Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijani artist Rashad Alakbarov is set to take part in the 12th edition of Avesta Art exhibition underway in Avesta, Sweden, YAY Gallery reports.

Alakbarov is to present Azerbaijan in Sweden with his electrifying illumination art. Alakbarov's shadow installations - "The Flying Man", "Miniature" and "Show Me Art" - are included in the exhibition, which kicked off on May 24.

The exhibition, which will run until September 7, are attended by 11 contemporary national and international artists from Sweden, Finland, the UK, the Czech Republic, Italy and Azerbaijan.

The 2014 edition of Avesta Art seeks to create an aesthetic and conceptual dialogue where the past, present and future are linked though contemporary art within the space of the former industrial ironworks of the city.

The exhibition's name "The Process" refers to all the layers of these long and short processes. The processes can be felt during the creation of art both in theory and in practice- just like the industrial processes.

Alakbarov graduated from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Arts in 2001, where he specialized in Decorative Arts. He has worked in various media including painting, sculpture as well as stage design, video art and interior design.

Since 2001, he has started using shadows in large-scale installations. This has become the main direction of the artist's conceptual work and has gained him international notoriety and acclaim.

Alakbarov's installations for Avesta Art are created from carefully positioned iron components which when illuminated reveal an image or words on the corresponding surface.

"I want to encourage people to open their senses to reality," he said. "Shadow was the world's first picture. By projecting human emotions, ambitions and fears through the world of shadows, it is as we make them more understandable and inoffensive. Tenderness, irony and allegory shine through with unexpected clarity. The simplest objects assume a special beauty."

Alakbarov has put on display his works at the 52nd and 55th Venice Biennale and 55th Venice Biennale collateral exhibition "Love Me, Love Me Not". They are now being exhibited at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

He recently completed a solo exhibition of his work at the Baku MOMA. His artwork has been widely exhibited in Europe and is held in private collections in Azerbaijan, Italy, Turkey and Russia.

Rashad Alakbarov is represented by YAY Gallery in Baku, Azerbaijan.

YAY Gallery was established in September 2012 as an addition to the broader initiative conceived by YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation in order to support and promote the development of Azerbaijani contemporary art both on a national and international level.

The gallery is commercial but for not-for-profit purposes, and all potential revenue from the art sales is channelled into supporting YARAT initiatives and the artists.

Founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to create a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally.