Meeting Point
YAY Gallery is delighted to announce its forthcoming exhibition, ‘Meeting Point’ taking place at Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, as part of Cuadro and YAY’s gallery collaboration. The exhibition brings together the work of four key Azerbaijani artists who have come to international attention in recent years. Rashad Alakbarov, Orkhan Huseynov, Aida Mahmudova, Nazrin Mammadova and Farid Rasulov will exhibit new work across a range of media including painting, installation and sculpture exploring themes of memory, home and tradition during an era of rapid modernization and globalization in Azerbaijan.
Rashad Alakbarov is best known for his abstract sculptural installations made from arranged objects and fragmented materials. Placed in front of a light-source to cast shadows, the works reveal unexpected narratives. For the exhibition the artist will present three new ‘shadow works’ that refer to different elements of Middle Eastern culture and tradition, from the Kufic alphabet to traditional Islamic architectural patterns.
Orkhan Huseynov will exhibit four Plexiglas reliefs from his new series ‘Yusuf’. Two of the wall-based works feature verses from Surah Yusuf, a chapter in the Quran, and the remaining, images of a modern shirt. Through the juxtaposition of religious stories and contemporary material, the artist continues to investigate regional history while referencing age-old folk traditions and objects in his conceptual practice.
Farid Rasulov presents two new sculptures from his latest body of work comprised of day-to-day objects ornamented with the traditional woodcraft technique of hand carving. Rasulov’s work draws from his two year study with traditional wood masters and combines Islamic shapes and the ancient craft of carving with the modern transformation of the common object.
Working across installation, sculpture and painting, Aida Mahmudova’s work addresses themes of memory and nostalgia. Her paintings are an attempt to capture and preserve fading landscapes, urban environments and architecture in Azerbaijan.
Nazrin Mammadova presents her COAT series. “The Coat” is a direct try to demonstrate fascination with banal approach used in contemporary architecture and construction materials that in fact reflect visual identity adherent to the rapidly built cities in the Middle East region today.
Meeting Point is the second collaborative exhibition between Yay Gallery and Cuadro Gallery 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.
