Dates: 02/08/2024 - 15/09/2024
Address: 9 Usacheva St., Moscow
Gallery K35 is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition "The Nukus Context", presenting works by four extraordinary young artists from Nukus, Uzbekistan. Debuting in Moscow, this project immerses the audience in a unique and multi-layered artistic space, opening new horizons for the Russian art scene.
The very context that shaped the art of Salamat Babadzhanov, Temur Shardemetov, Bakhtiyar Serekeev, and Nauruz Aitmuratov carries an air of the exotic. They are all friends and classmates, born in 1990. They raised and live in the city of Nukus — the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan. This is a region remote from Tashkent, shrouded in an aura of post-Soviet disintegration, the desiccating Aral Sea, and vast deserts, which together create a unique context shaping their artistic perception — a remarkable, highly distinctive and freedom-loving ethnicity. Today, the name of Nukus is gaining increasing international resonance thanks to the activity of The State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky. This is a brief glimpse into the environment that surrounds and shapes these artists.
One is inevitably tempted to classify and define the direction of these artists. Perhaps introducing the terms "Nukus Neo-Expressionism" or "The Nukus School" would seem fitting. Vibrant, contrasting colors, massiveness of form, and primitivism define their work. A discerning viewer might detect in their paintings the energy and artistic techniques of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon, with whose work, it must be said, the artists themselves are either entirely unfamiliar or only superficially acquainted. Their works reveal ritual and cultural echoes, refracted through the prism of personal experience. Yet, despite the many commonalities in their lives and art, they are not dictated a unified artistic style. Herein lies the special value of "The Nukus School."
The exhibition "The Nukus Context" is an immersion into a cultural space where tradition and postmodernism form a single artistic universe. Each artist offers a unique perspective on the surrounding reality, allowing us to see in their works a reflection of not only personal but also the collective identity of the region.
Salamat Babadzhanov
«I painted and painted, but my mind could find no peace»
Salamat Babadzhanov's large-scale works explore the theme of the Bestiary — portraits of monsters inhabiting, if not our reality, then the consciousness of modern man. It is evident that the artist's works are highly impulsive; he does not concern himself with formalities. A creative impulse drives him to take up paints and whatever materials are at hand (often using pieces of tarpaulin instead of conventional canvas) and create. His work is a profoundly honest and pure creative process.
Temur Shardemetov
Interestingly, in the works of both Salamat and his colleague Temur Shardemetov, monsters are not always giants; they can take the form of small, outwardly harmless demons or mythological creatures. Temur often places them within a context that is equally surreal and enigmatic, masterfully employing color and form.
Bakhtiyar Serekeev
A hereditary artist, Bakhtiyar draws on the best of his father's creative legacy while not fearing to experiment and be "different." His works often feature group portraits ("The Couple," "The Three," and others), whose characters are active in their interaction with each other and in their energy exchange with the viewer. This is manifested in energy streams bursting from mouths, inverted figures, and locks of hair transforming into tree branches.
Nauruz Aitmuratov
Nauruz also hails from a family of artists (his father was a painter). In his work, the young artist turns to semi-abstract images, akin to mirages. One can discern themes of the desert and the Aral Sea, so acute for the region, which break through into his art, sometimes even unconsciously.
The very context that shaped the art of Salamat Babadzhanov, Temur Shardemetov, Bakhtiyar Serekeev, and Nauruz Aitmuratov carries an air of the exotic. They are all friends and classmates, born in 1990. They raised and live in the city of Nukus — the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan. This is a region remote from Tashkent, shrouded in an aura of post-Soviet disintegration, the desiccating Aral Sea, and vast deserts, which together create a unique context shaping their artistic perception — a remarkable, highly distinctive and freedom-loving ethnicity. Today, the name of Nukus is gaining increasing international resonance thanks to the activity of The State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky. This is a brief glimpse into the environment that surrounds and shapes these artists.
One is inevitably tempted to classify and define the direction of these artists. Perhaps introducing the terms "Nukus Neo-Expressionism" or "The Nukus School" would seem fitting. Vibrant, contrasting colors, massiveness of form, and primitivism define their work. A discerning viewer might detect in their paintings the energy and artistic techniques of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon, with whose work, it must be said, the artists themselves are either entirely unfamiliar or only superficially acquainted. Their works reveal ritual and cultural echoes, refracted through the prism of personal experience. Yet, despite the many commonalities in their lives and art, they are not dictated a unified artistic style. Herein lies the special value of "The Nukus School."
The exhibition "The Nukus Context" is an immersion into a cultural space where tradition and postmodernism form a single artistic universe. Each artist offers a unique perspective on the surrounding reality, allowing us to see in their works a reflection of not only personal but also the collective identity of the region.
Salamat Babadzhanov
«I painted and painted, but my mind could find no peace»
Salamat Babadzhanov's large-scale works explore the theme of the Bestiary — portraits of monsters inhabiting, if not our reality, then the consciousness of modern man. It is evident that the artist's works are highly impulsive; he does not concern himself with formalities. A creative impulse drives him to take up paints and whatever materials are at hand (often using pieces of tarpaulin instead of conventional canvas) and create. His work is a profoundly honest and pure creative process.
Temur Shardemetov
Interestingly, in the works of both Salamat and his colleague Temur Shardemetov, monsters are not always giants; they can take the form of small, outwardly harmless demons or mythological creatures. Temur often places them within a context that is equally surreal and enigmatic, masterfully employing color and form.
Bakhtiyar Serekeev
A hereditary artist, Bakhtiyar draws on the best of his father's creative legacy while not fearing to experiment and be "different." His works often feature group portraits ("The Couple," "The Three," and others), whose characters are active in their interaction with each other and in their energy exchange with the viewer. This is manifested in energy streams bursting from mouths, inverted figures, and locks of hair transforming into tree branches.
Nauruz Aitmuratov
Nauruz also hails from a family of artists (his father was a painter). In his work, the young artist turns to semi-abstract images, akin to mirages. One can discern themes of the desert and the Aral Sea, so acute for the region, which break through into his art, sometimes even unconsciously.