This autumn, Sotheby's S|2 gallery will stage the landmark first London solo exhibition by the leading Turkish contemporary artist, Taner Ceylan. Running from the 23 September to 28 October, and comprising six astounding photo-realist paintings, 'I Love You' is a major new body of work by the Istanbul-based artist.

Through his virtuoso, emotionally charged paintings, Ceylan has become the most revered - and perhaps most controversial - Turkish artist of his generation. Sharing the technical mastery of great 20th-century photo-realist pioneers such as Chuck Close, Ceylan's work is suffused with a visceral emotional energy that belies the painstakingly labour-intensive process behind each painting. “I try to paint with the language of the contemporary art and contemporary photography, with the techniques of the classical artist”, says Ceylan.

'I Love You', the artist's most important body of work to date, draws inspiration from the portrayal of religious subjects in Old Master painting. "[In the Old Masters] we are presented with humanity's suffering, cruelty, love and submission, which is juxtaposed with physical beauty", says Ceylan, "I was faced with questions that I had never thought of before, nor would have ever imagined asking. Could pain and suffering actually bring beauty and happiness? Is suffering erotic? Is pain legitimate?"