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Aida Mahmudova

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Aida Mahmudova
Born1982
Baku, Azerbaijan
EducationFine Arts, Central Saint Martin’s College, London, 2009
BA Fashion Marketing, Intercontinental University, US, 2009
Notable workYARAT
MovementContemporary Art

Aida Mahmudova is an Azerbaijan artist and supporter of contemporary art. Closely connected to the ruling regime in Azerbaijan, Mahmudova has been involved in the operation of several art museums in Baku.[1]

Early life and education

Mahmudova was born in 1982 in Baku. She is the niece of the сurrent First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva. In 2006, she graduated from Central Saint Martin`s College of Art and Design in London with a BA Degree in Fine Art. In 2009, she graduated from the American Intercontinental University with a BA Degree in Fashion Marketing.[2][3]

Career

Since 2012, Mahmudova has been Director of the Museum of Modern Art in Baku. In 2011, she founded YARAT, a not-for-profit contemporary art organisation based in Baku, Azerbaijan.[4][5] She works in installation, sculpture and painting to capture forgotten and marginal corners of her rapidly modernising country. Mamudova claims that Yarat is independent from the ruling regime because she received money to start the organisation from a bank, not her family.[1]

Since 2012, Mahmudova has been the Curatorial Director of the Baku Museum of Modern Art.[2] She has participated in exhibitions with other artists and her works have been exhibited internationally. In 2015, she started her first solo exhibition ‘Passing By’ in the US at the Leila Heller Gallery.[2]

Style

Though Azerbaijan has an abysmal human rights record, Mahmudova tries to distance herself from anything the government does or the freedom of expression it denies. She claims impartiality to artistic content as "“Artists can express what they like. I do not interfere.”[1]

Mahmudova’s artwork tends to be abstract. Without clear outline of her painting objects, she uses blurry paint strokes to create shapeless pictures. She stresses on the texture on her works. She favours thick dry layers of pigments and texture to make her works more dimensional. It helps to emphasise the texture of the paint and also the canvas. It makes a high contrast on her use of substantial textured paint and abstract displayed images.

Mahmudova’s choice of colour is various. Her artworks show good understanding of colour matching. She can use thick, high contrast colour to create energetic, colourful paintings. She seldom uses bright tone of the colour. For example, her ‘Rambling Vine, 2015[6]’ demonstrates her use of thick, dry layer of pigment to create the rough texture. And she tends to tone down the bright colour like typical yellow to be macaroon yellow mixed with pickle green and grey.

These mixture of colour is cohesive to her paint brushes, bold and yet non-systematic or formulated. It could be interpreted as struggling against rules. See’ The neighbours[7]’ and ‘The Fountain[8]’, she do not limited herself using thick texture to express herself. She would use wet,low contrast, dripping liquid paints through the heights of canvas to express sense of malcony. Both textured and loose formed artworks suggested the same idea, Aida do not want to limit her paintings so that most of her works cannot find a clear cut outline of objects.“Memory is the material of my work.” – Aida Mahmudova often applied this brief but very precise analysis on her own art pieces.”[9]

What makes her artworks so blurry and dreamy is her memories cannot be displayed exactly. “My art is a constant and continued investigation of my memory, as it informs my identity. The touchstone of this search and the main source of my inspiration are the forgotten, untouched, and undeveloped locations in Azerbaijan. Our physical world is shifting at a pace so rapid that our memories are frequently blurred, and our ‘remembered’ past is often forgotten or altered by our subconscious.[10]” There are uncertainties in betweens. “Aida Mahmudova’s artwork delves into the emotive facets of ‘longing’ – specifically, the longing for the memory of a place, rather than for the place itself. The artist simultaneously meditates on how memory is tied to the debris of the past. Her paintings and other works present history as a collection of mementos, which appear fragmented and partial, and are accessible only through the mediation of personal perceptions and emotional responses.”[10]

Artwork

Most of the art work done by Mahmudova is inspired by the landscapes and the built environment. In 2012, her work “recycled” was exhibited in the 012 Baku Public Art Festival.[5] In her recent art work, she is inspired by the tra

Solo exhibitions

In 2015, Mahmudova had her first solo exhibition "Passing by" in the United States.[9] In this exhibition, the seven paintings were displayed. The theme of the paintings was inspired by her previous work. Also, it is inspired by the built environment and the landscapes of her living space.[9]

Selected group exhibitions

2012

2013

2014

  • Here…Today, Old Sorting Office, London, UK
  • Poetics of the Ordinary, Vienna Art Fair, The New Contemporary, Vienna, Austria[11]

2015

  • Vita Vitale, Curated by ArtWise, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
  • Making Histories, YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan
  • Exploring Inward, Louise Blouin Foundation, London, UK[11]

Awards

  • 2015: Luxury Lifestyle 2015 - CHELEBI Furniture & Decor[12][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hossenally, Rooksana (May 12, 2017). "Art Collective YARAT Opens First Permanent Art Center in Azerbaijan". Forbes. Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "YAY Gallery". Yaygallery.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  3. ^ "7 influential women artists from Asia-Pacific". Artradarjournal.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  4. ^ "Yarat | Contemporary Art Space". Yarat.az. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  5. ^ a b c YARAT. "YARAT | CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE". www.yarat.az. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  6. ^ "Rambling Vine by Aida Mahmudova". Artnet.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  7. ^ "Aida Mahmudova | The neighbours (2015), Available for Sale | Artsy". Artsy.net. Archived from the original on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  8. ^ "Aida Mahmudova | Fountain (2015), Available for Sale | Artsy". Artsy.net. Archived from the original on 2016-04-17. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  9. ^ a b c Zalles, Carolina (2015). "Catalogue design". Leila Heller Gallery.
  10. ^ a b Micheli, Ruggieri De. "Introduction to 'Aida Mahmudova: Internal PeaceAlessandra'". Barbarian Art Gallery. Archived from the original on 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  11. ^ a b c d "Passing by". Leilahellergallery.com. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  12. ^ "EXCLUSIVE AZERBAIJAN DESIGN FOR THE PLEASURE OF YOUR EYES :: News :: Luxury Lifestyle Awards 2015". Luxurylifestyleawards.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  13. ^ "Luxury Lifestyle Awards 2015 / Список участников / Alt?nba? Jewelry". Luxurylifestyleawards.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
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