Meeting Point
Meeting Point Rashad Alakbarov Orkhan Huseynov Aida Mahmudova Nazrin Mammadova Farid Rasulov
Baku, AZERBAIJAN
Dubai, UAE
Founded in 2008, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, located in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), has quickly become one of the UAE’s premier contemporary and modern art venues. Cuadro Fine Art Gallery maintains four keys areas of focus: exhibitions, education, residency and consultation. Cuadro’s curated exhibitions provide audiences with an opportunity to experience different approaches and execution styles of art. These exhibitions are enhanced by the Cuadro Education Program, which is comprised of lectures, workshops and panel discussions. The Residency at Cuadro offers a select group of artists studio space in the UAE. The artists, both local and international, are often also provided the opportunity to exhibit the work they have created at Cuadro at the end of their residency. Cuadro also provides qualied art consultation services for its discerning collectors, building on and enhancing existing collections, as well as helping establish new collections. Through these initiatives, Cuadro maintains its commitment to dynamically engage and add value to the local and international art communities.
www.cuadroart.com
Baku, AZERBAIJAN
Located in the heart of Baku’s Old City, YAY Gallery sits among a designated UNESCO world heritage site. The gallery was founded by YARAT, a not-for-prot contemporary art organisation, as part of their commitment to support the infrastructure for art in Azerbaijan. The gallery is a social enterprise; YAY (meaning ‘share’ in Azerbaijani) shares all proceeds from sales of work between the artists and YARAT. In addition to six exhibitions a year, the gallery has rapidly established a strong following for its programme of talks and publications. Artists represented by YAY Gallery have gone on to take part in residencies and exhibitions internationally. Faig Ahmed was nominated for the prestigious Jameel Prize in 2013 and exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In June 2014, Nazrin Mammadova, Rashad Alakbarov and Farid Rasulov took part in Delna Foundation’s respected residency in London. YAY Gallery’s exhibition program also brings work by some of the most innovative artists from across the world to Baku, including solo exhibitions by French experimental performance artists ‘les gens d’Uterpans’ and prominent Iranian artist Mahmoud Bakhshi. The gallery’s artistic agenda is focused on showing the most talented and promising young artists as well as more established artists from Azerbaijan and abroad. Beyond its immediate artistic program, the gallery intends to regularly host lectures, readings, lm screenings and workshops conducted by the artists with the goal of becoming a platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences between the artists and the wider public.
www.yaygallery.com
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point
T
he art scene of Baku has gone through various transformations over the last couple decades. Emerging from the hubris of the Soviet collapse, the city's bohemian circles, which prided themselves with being the bedrock of Azerbaijani intelligentsia, had a twofold task ahead of them. One was to deconstruct the existing framework of living and thinking within a communist system, along with its dominant sets of values and habits engrained in the shared unconscious over decades. The other was to construct a new identity in line with capitalist sentiments and the Westward looking modes of existence. Using a limited amount of materials available to them at the time, the artists were among the first to delve into this problem and explore the possibilities the new world afforded. The nineties being the most turbulent of decades welcomed the most drastic changes. Artists making work before then could be split along two camps – the Socialist Realists, loyal to the Party and communist ideas, and those in underground circles, who came about in the 60s and 70s, around influential figures such as the cousins Javad MirJavadov and Rasim Babayev. These artists used new materials to create new forms. They swapped a clean canvas for textured burlap and industrial paints mixed with sand and algae from the beaches of Absheron. Their characters were far from idealized, almost grotesque, serving as actors of human passions and expressing discontent with the status quo. The eighties brought about more liberal times, yet the new freedoms afforded to the arts were more visible through new forms in music
and jazz coming out of the city. It was only in the nineties, when the visual artists started coming together in groups to discuss and explore new opportunities. Art festivals and thematic exhibitions that put content ahead of form and invited critical thinking played a vital role. Under the leadership of curators and organisers such as late Leyla Akhundzada, whose legacy lives on through the vital support given to artists at the time of uncertainty and chaos, a new generation of artists emerged. By the early 2000s, the art scene of Baku was open to international influences at home, through festivals like Aluminum (2004), which became a biannual exhibition, and in 2007 Azerbaijani artists were presented for the first time at the 50th Venice Biennale inside their own National Pavilion (Curated by Leyla Akhundzada)
of a non-governmental organization, called simply YARAT – a call to “create” in Azeri. Founded by Aida Mahmudova and a group of artists, the collective put together pop-up exhibitions in disused factories, construction sites and, through its annual Public Art Festival, across various sites of the city, thus bringing diversity to the public experience of art and attracting wider audiences to engage with contemporary art as such. The artists working to build this momentum bridged various aesthetics, from traditional crafts of Azerbaijani heritage, to cutting edge techniques of global art practices. By making the latter more easily accessible to the uninitiated and, in a way, speaking the language of the people, their works provide much needed commentary on history, change, identity and the sociopolitical realities of today.
The young generation of Azeri artists grew up with a new capitalistic frame of mind. These artists were young enough to reap the benefits of openness that the Internet brought about, and they could travel freely and become products of globalization in much the same way as the Western youth. Nevertheless, they feel a strong connection to the recent events as their childhood was spent under the Soviet regime and during the turbulent nineties. Hence, the Soviet signifiers are still present in their work. The solid economical growth at home provided infrastructure and means to develop their practice, and support from the government gave rise to new opportunities through education and exposure.
Azeri artists have by now become a usual sight at many international events – from art fairs to leading biennales. The international appeal of Azeri artists, in part, comes from the subject matter explored through their works. Heretofore unchartered territories of the post-Soviet space become visible and local issues negotiated on an international scale. Dealing with one's heritage and traditions have become a popular theme through works by artists such as Faig Ahmed, who deconstructs Azeri carpets through grids, fluorescent paint, and graffiti, in both physical and digital space, in a gesture putting tradition “on its head”.
However, the pivotal moment in the development of the practices of young artists was the establishment
The five artists presented at this exhibition are amongst the pioneers of Azerbaijani contemporary art, as we know it today. Aida Mahmudova explores personal memory spaces
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point / 3 through painting and installation. Her fluid canvases depict skies, trees, seas, houses, electric wires, fences and drying laundry. They give an impression of passing by in time and space, through places from the artist's memory, some of which may no longer exist due to rapid change so common to her hometown. Preferring a pastel palette, Mahmudova appropriates the spaces she inhabits at any given time and makes them her own by imbuing the usual scenes with transcendent light. She captures a prescient moment. As an artist who is always on the move, she makes fleeting landscapes her home, a place of comfort and stillness.
office politics and tacit voices are deconstructed to their signifiers and mediated through the common language of art.
Farid Rasulov's practice plays on tradition, lifestyle and capitalist ideals. In his most famous installation, the artist obsessively covered every surface of a room, including bookshelves and TV screens, with a carpet pattern from Karabakh. His other works include sculptures combining delicate frames of stained glass with rough blocks of concrete, evoking the country's construction boom of the recent years. Rasulov's new works emerge from his long study of the ancient wood carving techniques. The artist handcrafts everyday objects Rashad Alakbarov's shadow works rendering them with Islamic have become immediately patterns. Both the interiors and recognizable staples of Azeri objects transformed by the artist contemporary art. Interested in a variety of Oriental heritage from Sufi suggest a particular subject. One philosophy, to poetry of Nizami, and who surrounds himself with the traditional ornaments in medieval commodities of a Western lifestyle, architecture, his works explore yet is unable to escape a personal prism embedded with centuries of variations and evolution of thought, tradition. The only way to move language and perceptions. Wielding complex structures out of wood and forward seems to combine the seemingly irreconcilable ideals. metal, the works' real meaning can only be read through light. By casting ephemeral shadows of Concrete is also a prominent intricate detail the artist weaves material in Nazrin Mammadova's symbols, words and images to evoke “Coat” series. Here, Mammadova, questions of social and historical whose evolving practice can be significance. described as a series of material Orkhan Huseynov's practice spans experiments, uses various across video, performance, construction materials – marble, installation and wall works in various glass, steel, plastic, concrete and media, often with stark social sandstone- to make delicate commentary. Exploring the full collages. The aesthetic appeal of potential of the local vernacular, these wall works provides a stark from Soviet anecdotes and obsolete contrast to their contextual lifestyles of neighborhoods now framework of the recent years, in subject to gentrification, to elements both Azerbaijan and the Middle East, of traditional dancing and teawhere these materials act as the drinking, Huseynov draws out a map main conduits of progress, economic of contemporary folklore. In his development and new infrastructure. works religious rites conflate with An interesting element here is the
local sandstone, “aqlai”, worked in a particular ornamental way to mark the architectural traditions of the past. Often at odds with its contemporary application, the ornament has nevertheless become a staple of mass construction in and around Baku. Bringing back an element from the past, subverting it and making it once again relevant is a way of creating a new identity for the New World Order. One that is reminded of its roots, but that has perfected itself through hard transitions to face the challenges of today. This theme, so imperative to the local artists, has become central in the exhibition presented at Cuadro Gallery in Dubai. “Meeting Point” provides a suggestive title of a typically Bakuvian sentiment. Situated at the crossroads of the East and the West, the city combines 12th century Oriental walls and palaces with architectural gems from Soviet industrialism and contemporary masterpieces by “starchitects”, such as Zaha Hadid. It is a place where the old meets the new, the Orient meets the Occident, Communism meets Capitalism, and various beliefs peacefully coexist even at the time of extreme global turbulence. The exhibition is also a dialogue, one that brings voices from Baku to audiences in Dubai, where shared traditions and distinct realities converge, the familiar and the foreign become indistinguishable, the old and the new become one.
SUAD GARAYEVA YARAT Contemporary Art Space Curatorial Director Exhibitions and Permanent Collection
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov
Rashad Alakbarov b. 1979, Baku, Azerbaijan lives and works in Baku Rashad Alakbarov graduated from the Faculty of Decorative Arts at Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art in Baku (2001). He has worked across different media, including painting, sculpture, theatrical decoration, video art and architectural design. In recent years it is his 'shadow work' installations that he has become best known for. His works feature in private collections in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Italy and Russia. Alakbarov's works comprise large-scale yet subtle installations, containing sculptures made from unique or found objects, that are arranged in front of a light-source to cast shadows in unexpected congurations. Under standard lighting, the sculptural works have little or nothing to do with the shadows projected, revealing a hidden duality that lies within the artist's work. Alakbarov has created a range of works using this theme. Projecting text, calligraphy, pattern and language, the artist's 'shadow works' question the relationship between sign and meaning. These works have been shown in exhibitions including 'The Union of Fire and Water', YARAT's Ofcial Collateral Project at the 56th International Art Exhibition –La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2015); 'The Other City', YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan (2013); Themis, 2012 Baku Public Art Festival', Baku, Azerbaijan (2012) and 'Foreword', Alternative Art Place, Baku (2011).
Solo Exhibitions 2014 ‘Words’, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan 2013 ‘The Other City’, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 ‘The Meeting Point’, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE
‘The Union of Fire and Water’, collateral exhibition to the 56th Venice Biennale, Palazzo Barbaro, Venice, Italy ‘Making Histories’, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan 2014 ‘Here...Today’, Old Sorting Office, London, UK ‘COSMOSCOW Art Fair’, Manezh, Moscow, Russia ‘Artbat Fest’, Contemporary Art Festival, Almaty, Kazakhstan Delfina Foundation, Artist-In-Residence, London, UK ‘In Between / Viewpoints’, Michela Rizzo Gallery, Venice, Italy ‘The Process’, 12th Avesta Art Festival, Kungsgatan, Sweden ‘Love Me, Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours’, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Words and Illuminations’, in cooperation with The British Museum, Le Méridien Medina Hotel, Al Madinah, UAE ‘East Wing Biennial’, The Courtauld Institute of Art,
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov / 3 London, UK 2013 ‘Home Sweet Home’ group exhibition, Azerbaijan Cultural Center, Paris, France ‘Home Sweet Home’ group exhibition, Baku Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Ornamentation’, 55th Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan Pavillion, Venice, Italy ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’, Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours, Collateral Event for the 55th International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2012-2013 ‘Fly to Baku’, multiple galleries, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Neue Burg, Vienna, Austria; Spazio D, Maxxi building, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome, Italy; Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia; me Collectors Room, Berlin, Germany; Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, Paris, France; Phillips de Pury & Company, London, UK 2012 Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah, UAE ‘From Waste To Art’, Gala Archeological and Ethnographic Museum, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Merging Bridges’, by YARAT, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Maiden Tower’ III International Art Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘012’ Baku Public Art Festival, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Commonist’, organised by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan 2011 ‘Foreword’, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Alternative Art Place, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘The Journey To The East’, Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, MOCAK, Kraków, Poland; Arsenal Gallery, Białystok, Poland ‘Fabulous Four’, ArtExEast Foundation, Kichik QalArt, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘City’, Central House of The Artist, Moscow, Russia ‘Big Caucasus’, Perm Gallery, Perm, Russia 2010 Azerbaijan Contemporary Art, Aidan Gallery,
Moscow, Russia ‘Under The Scalding Sun’, painting project. The German Church, Baku, Azerbaijan 2009 ‘BakUnlimited’, Cultural Days of Azerbaijan, Voltahalle, Basel, Switzerland 2008 ‘Art Is Not Only Ugly’, Atrium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Germany ‘Steps of Time’ Contemporary Art From Azerbaijan, Residenzschloss, Dresden, Germany ‘Minimum Wage’ Project, group exhibition, Center of Contemporary Arts, Baku, Azerbaijan 2007 ‘Aluminium 3: Realities of Dreams’, International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘East & West’, International Art Festival, Museum of Art, Die, France ‘Omnia Mea’, 52nd Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan Pavilion, Venice, Italy 2006 ‘Caucasus’, NCCA, Moscow, Russia ‘Transfusion’, Contemporary Art Centre, Liestal, Switzerland ‘Aluminium 2’, International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan 2005 ‘Aluminium l: Art and New Technologies’, Shirvanshah's Palace, Baku, Azerbaijan 2003 ‘7+7. More Transparent’, The Museum Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan 2002 ‘Orientalism: Inside & Outside’, International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Sattar Bahlulzadeh Exhibition Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Cosmopolitica’, exhibition project in frame International Music Festival ‘New Music from the Last Century’, Baku, Azerbaijan 2000 ‘Wings of Time’, Exhibition of Young Artists, Khagani Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan
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Rashad Alakbarov Al Musawwir, 2015 metal installation, light 60 x 60 x 60 cm Ed 1 of 3+AP
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov / 3
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov
Rashad Alakbarov Al Sabur, 2015 Metal installation, light 60 x 60 x 60 cm Ed 1 of 3+AP
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov / 3
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov
Rashad Alakbarov Ornament, 2015 Metal installation, light 60 x 60 x 60 cm Ed 1 of 3+AP
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Rashad Alakbarov / 3
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Orkhan Huseynov
Orkhan Huseynov b. 1979, Baku, Azerbaijan lives and works in Baku Orkhan Huseynov graduated from The Faculty of Ceramic Design at the Azimzadeh State Art College in Baku in 1995, and from The Faculty of Ceramic Design at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art in 1999. He received his Master’s Degree in 2000 from The Faculty of Art History and Theory at The Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art in Baku. Huseynov is a multidisciplinary artist who works across painting, installation, video, drawing and other media. From the outset, the focus of his work has been admiration for his country's history and folk traditions, most prominently during its post-Soviet reawakening. Art, culture, monuments, traditional games and elements of everyday life have all found a place in the artist's work. Huseynov devoted an entire body of work to pre-revolutionary Baku using visual references such as oil elds, political residencies, restaurants, law rms, markets and instances from the private lives of the city's inhabitants. More serious themes are also explored in Huseynov’s work such as Azerbaijan's current and historical politics, such as the Nagorno-Karabakh conict in the South Caucasus. However, reaching wider both geographically and temporally, his work accomplishes a certain universality. His conceptual work is similarly ambitious. For example, Sabir and Splash are planar objects made of Plexiglas in which monochromatic colour emphasises its graphic qualities, while clear lines accentuate a poster-like element. Splash invites viewers to meditate and reach their own conclusion. Sabir, on the other hand, is a tribute to the memory of the genius of Azerbaijani poet-satirist Sabir. The drop of blood on the poet's lips are thought to be a reference to the words spoken on his death bed: ‘I laid my esh down for my people. But if God gave me more time, I would lay my bones down too’. Solo Exhibitions 2013 ‘The Office’, Kichik QalArt Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan
2003 Selected works. V. Samedova Exhibition Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Old Baku’, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2000 Selected works. Vakif Bank Art Gallery, Ankara, Turkey ‘Orkhan Huseynov – Graphics’, Humay Azeri Cultural Centre, London, UK 1999 Selected works. V. Samedova Exhibition Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 ‘The Meeting Point’, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE ‘Making Histories’, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan 2014 ‘Contemporary Istanbul’, Istanbul Congress Hall, Istanbul, Turkey
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Orkhan Huseynov / 3 ‘Poetics of the Ordinary’, Viennafair: The New Contemporary, Messe Vienna, Austria ‘Love Me, Love Me Not: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours’, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan 2013 ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’, Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours, Collateral Event for the 55th International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2012-2013 ‘Fly to Baku’, multiple galleries, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Neue Burg, Vienna, Austria; Spazio D, Maxxi building, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome, Italy; Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia; me Collectors Room, Berlin, Germany; Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, Paris, France; Phillips de Pury & Company, London, UK 2012 ‘Merging Bridges’, by YARAT, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘012’ Baku Public Art Festival, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Commonist’, organised by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan 2011 ‘Foreword’, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Alternative Art Place, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Fabulous Four’, ArtExEast Foundation, Kichik QalArt, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘The Journey To The East’, Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, MOCAK, Kraków, Poland; Arsenal Gallery, Białystok, Poland 2010 ‘Ground Floor America’, Den Frie Centre for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark Azerbaijan Contemporary Art, Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia ‘Under The Scalding Sun’, painting project. The German Church, Baku, Azerbaijan 2009 ‘Aluminum 4: Transformation’ International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘BakUnlimited’, Cultural Days of Azerbaijan, Voltahalle, Basel, Switzerland
‘M'artian Fields: Collaboration of Young Artists’, M'ARS Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2008 ‘Art Is Not Only Ugly’, Atrium of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Germany ‘Steps of Time’ Contemporary Art From Azerbaijan, Residenzschloss, Dresden, Germany From‘Aluminium 3: Realities of Dreams’, International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Minimum Wage Project’, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Baku, Azerbaijan 2007 ‘Aluminium 3: Realities of Dreams’, International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Omnia Mea’, 52nd Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan Pavilion, Venice, Italy 2006 ‘Caucasus’, NCCA, Moscow, Russia ‘East & West’, International Art Festival, Museum of Art, Die, France 2005 ‘Man & Women’, curator and participant, with the French Embassy in Azerbaijan, Museum Centre Art Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan 2004 ‘Metro – Space’, former Galéria Priestor for Contemporary Arts, Bratislava, Slovakia 2003 ‘7+7. More Transparent’, The Museum Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Aluminium l: Art and New Technologies’, Shirvanshah's Palace, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Inout’, International Festival of Digital Art, Prague, Czech Republic ‘Last East European Show’, Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade, Serbia 2002 ‘Orientalism: Inside & Outside’, International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Sattar Bahlulzadeh Exhibition Hall, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Caucasian Aleatory’, art symposium, Batumi, Georgia ‘Cosmopolitica’, exhibition project in frame International Music Festival ‘New Music from the Last Century’, Baku, Azerbaijan
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Orkhan Huseynov Plan is great, diptych, 2015 85 x 55 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1 42 x 48 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1
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Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Orkhan Huseynov / 3
Orkhan Huseynov Patience is most ď€ tting, diptych, 2015 85 x 55 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1 42 x 48 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1
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Orkhan Huseynov Of the Liars, diptych, 2015 85 x 55 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1 42 x 48 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1
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Orkhan Huseynov Altogether, diptych, 2015 85 x 55 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1 42 x 48 cm, plexiglass Ed 1 of 1
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Aida Mahmudova
Aida Mahmudova b. 1982 in Baku, Azerbaijan lives and works in Baku and London Aida Mahmudova is an Azerbaijani artist and Founder and Creative Director of YARAT, a not-for-prot contemporary art organization, based in Baku. She graduated from Central Saint Martin's in London with a degree in Fine Art in 2006 and has since been exhibited internationally. Her work addresses memory and nostalgia. Drawing inspiration from the landscape and architecture of Azerbaijan, Mahmudova works in installation, sculpture and painting, to capture forgotten and marginal corners of her rapidly modernizing country. The core of Mahmudova's work involves repurposed and abandoned architectural features, formed into installations, as well as paintings of empty sites on the outskirts of Baku. Seeking to commemorate a moment in time through these subjects her works act to counter the on-going experience of transience, yet they simultaneously celebrate items which are themselves on the cusp on disappearing. As such, Mahmudova preserves the sense of ephemerality that permeates a country layered with complex social and cultural histories. In 2011, Aida Mahmudova founded YARAT, a not-forprot contemporary art organisation based in Baku, Azerbaijan. YARAT is dedicated to nurturing and understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan, as well as creating a platform for Azerbaijani art both nationally and internationally. The organisation also produces a comprehensive exhibiti0n programme and educational workshops and classes.
Solo Exhibitions 2015 ‘Passing by...’, solo exhibition, Leila Heller Gallery, New York, USA 2013 ‘Internal Peace’, solo exhibition, Barbarian Art Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland ‘Internal Peace’, solo exhibition, Kichik GalArt
Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 ‘The Meeting Point’, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE ‘Vita Vitale’, National Pavilion of Azerbaijan, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy ‘Making Histories’, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Exploring Inward’, Louise Blouin Foundation, London, UK 2014 ‘Here...Today’, Old Sorting Office, London, UK ‘Poetics Of The Ordinary’, ViennaFair The New Contemporary, Vienna, Austria ‘Love Me Love Me Not’, Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan 2013 ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’, Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours, Collateral Event for the 55th International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Aida Mahmudova / 3 ‘Home Sweet Home’ group exhibition, Azerbaijan Cultural Center, Paris, France ‘Home Sweet Home’ group exhibition, Baku Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Baku, Azerbaijan 2012-2013 ‘Fly to Baku’, multiple galleries, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Neue Burg, Vienna, Austria; Spazio D, Maxxi building, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome, Italy; Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia; me Collectors Room, Berlin, Germany; Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, Paris, France; Phillips de Pury & Company, London, UK 2012 ‘Commonist’, organised by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Merging Bridges’, by YARAT, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘012’ Baku Public Art Festival, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan 2011 ‘Foreword’, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Alternative Art Place, Baku, Azerbaijan
Aida Mahmudova Untitled. 2015 Mixed media on canvas 210 x 370 cm
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3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Nazrin Mammadova
Nazrin Mammadova b. 1989, Kutaisi, Georgia lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan Nazrin Mammadova is one of of the youngest formidable talents among contemporary art scene of Azerbaijan and a graduate of the Eurasian Diplomatic Academy in Azerbaijan (2010). In 2012 she nished study at British Higher School of Art and Design (BA) Honors (Moscow, Russia). Nazrin's approach to life can be observed as deductive exploration of change which echoes in her art practice. With diverse creative practice that ranges from drawing, painting, photography, installation, digital art and animation, staged performance, public art, creative writing and exhibition making to game design artist discovers that elements she engages with in her artistic practice are autobiographical. Recent practice is heavily involved with the term 'Gulf Futurism' to explain existing phenomena that is observed in the architecture, urban planing, art and aesthetics of popular culture in the Persian Gulf and neighbouring post oil countries. Sharing some qualities with the 20th century movement like futurism, Gulf Futurism is evident in the agenda of the dominant classes of the region concerned with masterplanning and world building. The gulf is the region that has been hyper driven into a present made up of interior wasteland municipal master plans and environmental collapse, thus making its projection of global future. Through 'Gulf Futurism ' artist reects upon cultural and social aspects adherent to the region and explores the ways it can be interpreted by means of contemporary art and attempts to evoke questions and issues of social and historical signicance such as the isolation of Individuals via technology, wealth and reactionary Islam, the corrosive elements of consumerism on the soul and industry on the earth, the replacement of history with gloried heritage fantasy in the collective memory - and in many cases, the erasure of existing physical surroundings. Her recent projects explore the dynamics of social dislocation amid rapid modernisation. At the same time trying to identify the signicance of advances of personal technology in the clash between tradition and
modernity. Pointing at cross cultural and beset notions of transience.
Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 ‘The Meeting Point’, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE ‘ALANICA 2015’, Art symposium, Vladikavkaz, North Osetia 3rd Baku Public Art Festival: ‘Drop of Sky’, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘The Review’, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan 2014 ‘A Time For Dreams’, 4th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, MMOMA, Moscow, Russia ‘START art fair’, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK ‘GRID’ Photo festival, Vondel CS, Amsterdam, Nederland
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The 16th edition of the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE 2013 ЗАВОД Group exhibition, Baku Air Condition Plant building, Azerbaijan ‘Pat Situation’, Group exhibition, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan 2012 III Moscow International, Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia ‘Merging Bridges’ group exhibition of Azerbaijani and British contemporary art Curated by Adam Waymouth, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan [012] Baku Public Art Festival, Exhibited and co-curated. Baku, Azerbaijan 2011 ‘Foreword’, the launch of YARAT Contemporary Art Space, group show, Alternative Art Place, Baku, Azerbaijan 2010 ‘Art Bazaar’, Contemporary Art Exhibition. Veten cinema. Baku. Azerbaijan ‘Azerbaijani Women’, photography exhibition, Museum Center, Baku, Azerbaijan 2009 ‘Aluminum 4: Transformation’ International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Nazrin Mammadova
Nazrin Mammadova 1, from the ‘Coat’ series, 2013 sandstone, concrete, glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, marble 70 x 50 cm Ed 1 of 1
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Nazrin Mammadova 2, from the ‘Coat’ series, 2013 sandstone, concrete, glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, marble 70 x 50 cm Ed 1 of 1
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Nazrin Mammadova 3, from the ‘Coat’ series, 2013 sandstone, concrete, glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, marble 70 x 50 cm Ed 1 of 1
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Nazrin Mammadova 4, from the ‘Coat’ series, 2013 sandstone, concrete, glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, marble 70 x 50 cm Ed 1 of 1
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Nazrin Mammadova 5, from the ‘Coat’ series, 2013 sandstone, concrete, glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, marble 70 x 50 cm Ed 1 of 1
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Nazrin Mammadova 6, from the ‘Coat’ series, 2013 sandstone, concrete, glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, marble 70 x 50 cm Ed 1 of 1
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov
Farid Rasulov b. 1985, Shusha, Azerbaija lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan Farid Rasulov works across a wide range of artistic media: large-scale paintings, installations, threedimensional graphics, animation and sculpture. His works are often conceptually and intellectually provocative. After studying to be a doctor at university, Farid Rasulov unexpectedly found himself increasingly involved in visual art. “My work is based on the fact that I do not take it seriously – and neither do I take seriously the things I portray”, says Rasulov. “I often observe how viewers carefully scrutinize my works, searching for hidden meaning. This is fascinating to watch, since what they're looking for does not exist.” Though he works in a variety of media, he is best known for his large-scale, hyper-realistic still-life paintings. These works depict objects against vividly coloured backgrounds, which seem to be layered with hidden meaning. Rasulov denies that his work contains any symbolism or metaphor, instead, the artist wishes to convey that our everyday existence is deceptively simple, particularly when viewed through the objects with which we surround ourselves. His latest body of work comprises intricately hand-carved wooden sculptures that are sometimes made using repurposed mass produced items. Whether carved from a solid block of wood or a humble wooden crate, Rasulov engraves the object with ornate, interlocking designs that are traditional to the region Solo Exhibitions 2014 ‘Dogs in the Living Room’, Rabouan Mouisson Gallery, Paris, France 2013 ‘Actual Tradition’, Sharjah Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah, UAE 2012 ‘Seafood’, Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2010 ‘Subjects’, Kichik QalArt Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan Selected Group Exhibitions 2015 Vienna Contemporary 2015, Marx Halle, Vienna, Austria ‘The Meeting Point’, Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE ‘Making Histories’, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan 2014 ‘Here...Today’, Old Sorting Office, London, UK ‘New Territories’, Expo Chicago, Chicago, USA 2013 ‘Ornamentation’, 55th Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan Pavillion, Venice, Italy ‘Love Me, Love Me Not’, Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours, Collateral Event for the 55th International Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy 2012-2013 Fly To Baku: Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan,
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov / 3 Kunsthistorisches Museum - Neue Burg, Vienna, Austria; Spazio D - Maxxi building National Museum of XXI Century arts, Rome, Italy; Spazio D MAXXI building, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome, Italy; Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia; me Collectors Room, Berlin, Germany; Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, Paris, France; Phillips de Pury & Company, London, UK 2012 ‘012’ Baku Public Art Festival, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Merging Bridges’, Modern Art Museum, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Commonist’, organised by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Next Level’, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan 2011 ‘Foreword’, Alternative Art Place, Baku ‘Fired Up’, Gazelli Art House, London, UK ‘Fabulous Four’, ArtExEast Foundation, Kichik QalArt, Baku, Azerbaijan ‘Big Caucasus’, Permm Gallery, Perm, Russia ‘Boundaries’, C99 Art Project, 99 Chamberlayne Road, Kensal Rise, London, UK 2010 Azerbaijan Contemporary Art, Aidan Gallery, Moscow ‘Under The Scalding Sun’, painting project. The German Church, Baku, Azerbaijan 2009 ‘BakUnlimited’, Cultural Days of Azerbaijan, Voltahalle, Basel, Switzerland ‘M'Artian Fields’, Young Artists' Collaboration, M'ARS Gallery, Moscow, Russia ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’, 53rd International Art Exhibition of Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan Pavilion, Venice, Italy 2008 Art Is Not Only Ugly, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Germany ‘Steps of Time’ Contemporary Art From Azerbaijan, Residenzschloss, Dresden, Germany ‘Minimum Wage’ Project, group exhibition, Center of Contemporary Arts, Baku, Azerbaijan
2007 ‘Aluminium 3: Realities of Dreams’, International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov / 3
Farid Rasulov Uprise 1, 2015 Handmade carved wood 200 x 45 x 45 cm Ed 1 of 3+AP
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov / 3
Farid Rasulov Uprise 2, 2015 200 x 45 x 45 cm Handmade carved wood Ed 1 of 3+AP
3 / Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov
Cuadro Gallery. Meeting Point. Farid Rasulov / 3
Farid Rasulov Uprise 1, 2015 Handmade carved wood 200 x 45 x 45 cm Ed 1 of 3+AP
Meeting Point 15 SEPTEMBER > 15 OCTOBER 2015
‘Meeting Point’ is the second collaborative exhibition between Cuadro Gallery and YAY Gallery (Baku) following ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ at Yay Gallery, which exhibited the work of four artists represented by Cuadro Gallery from the Middle East and North America, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
EXHIBITION Produced by: Cuadro Gallery Support: Cuadro Gallery, YAY Gallery CATALOGUE Design © Fakhriyya Mammadova Images © artists; YAY Gallery Text © Suad Garayeva; YAY Gallery; Cuadro Gallery For the catalogue in this form © Cuadro Gallery Printed in ‘CBS’ Printing House, Baku, Azerbaijan. 200 pieces All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any other information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the rights holder. All efforts have been made to trace copyright holders. Any errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent Editions if notice is given in writing to the rights holder.