Yavuz Tanyeli was born in 1950 in Trabzon. He graduated in 1978 from the Istanbul Academy of Fine Arts (now Mimar Sinan University), Department of Applied Industrial Arts. In 1989, he won first prize at the Contemporary Artists Istanbul exposition. Yavuz Tanyeli has held numerous exhibitions throughout Turkey and his work can be found in the collections of the State Museums of Painting and Sculpture in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, as well as the Istanbul Modern Art Museum. Yavuz Tanyeli currently lives and works in Istanbul and Bodrum.