Works by young talented Azerbaijani artist Maryam Alakbarli collected in catalogue

A catalogue of works by young talented Azerbaijani artist Maryam Alakbarli has come out. Called Colours of the Soul, the catalogue features paintings by Maryam, as well as articles by acclaimed artists praising her work.

Maryam Alakbarli was born on July 4, 1991 in Baku where she initially was educated in kindergarten and junior school No. 18, and then in various other secondary schools in both Baku and Moscow.

She started painting and sculpting at a very early age and took part in many children`s art exhibitions. Several of her drawings were published as cards of charity.

In September 2010, two exhibitions of her works were held in the Art Garden and Giz Galasi galleries in Baku. These let to an exhibition in Berlin (4 May – 4 June, 2011) and a UNESCO exhibition on 2 December, 2011, followed immediately by an exhibition in the Vivienne Art Galerie in Paris on 3-10 December, 2011.

From 26 March to 22 April, 2012, her exhibition “The Land of Spring” was held within the framework of the 6th international Traditions and Modernity Festival. She was awarded the festival prize “Vera” for her work.

On 15-19 September, 2012 another exhibition of her works was presented at Dolmabahce Palace Museum (Istanbul) and on 23-30 September, the exhibition “Dance of colours” of 192 works was on displayed at Cermodern museum in Ankara.

From 22 to 30 June 2013, an exhibition of Maryam Alakbalri`s work, entitled “Land of Fire”, was held in Rome at the National Institute for Graphics in the Palazzo Poli.

From 26 to 3- June 2013 in Moscow, her exhibition “Whirl of colours” was held as part of the 7th international Traditions and Modernity Festival.

Catalogues of her exhibitions and four albums of her works were published in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Baku, Paris, Moscow, Istanbul and Ankara.

“Maryam`s work is of particular interest to anyone involved in inclusive education as she has
Down Syndrome,” says Juliette Binoche, a French actress.

“Maryam has a new perspective on the application of colour. Rose red brownish yellow, star like green, blood red, eye black –she fearlessly puts her light into her subject, just as nature might.”
Genny di Bert, specialist in art history and art critic, Professor of Modern Art At the Rome University of Fine Arts, says: “Maryam Alakbarli is the emblem of the intrinsic relationship of creativity and life, artistic instinct and iconographic communication. It is the involving effect of wonder in which the young Azerbaijani artist gets lost; as though she was Alice, she joins hands with us to disappear into a world made of dream, fantasy as well as reality. It is the world of truth, naturalness, wonder and discovery. The works of Maryam are melodies full of love, a somewhat nostalgic love, expressed with improvisation marked by bright tones.”

Elizabeth Ayten Berent, artist, art critic, writes: “Her paintings seem to vary between the joy of duplicating a beautiful flower and the frustration of trying to place a huge sea perfectly on a canvas. She goes from her simple, childlike animals to the complexity of portraits. They are all a part of all the exciting feelings her heart experiences each day, even each hour. Many of her paintings are outstanding, others may be her escape into a world of calm and peace. Wouldn`t it be wonderful if we all had a place to go and be at peace while producing beautiful memories for the world to see.”

Olga Sviblova, Curator of Maryam alakbarli`s exhibition held at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, says: “It is almost a century and a half since Dostoyevsky wrote that “Beauty will save the world” yet that phrase never loses its relevance. In relation to Maryam Alakbarli, this is the first thought that automatically springs to mind both regarding her art, and her life. When you pick up a catalogue of Maryam`s work, you simply cannot take your eyes of it. It is radiates an extraordinary concentration of the brightest energy.

The suppleness and sensitivity of Maryam`s work is completely unique to her, the expressiveness of her articulation of an emotional state endlessly fascinating. The titles she bestows on her paintings are always both touching and yet precise: “A sad kangaroo against a backdrop of red”; “A lonely cow”; “An angry crocodile”; “A happy lino”… A great number of artists enter the World of Art having already mastered their profession, aiming for a successful professional career. Maryam lives her art, lives in Art, discovering the path to her self through it, transforming it into her main means of communication with the world. Perhaps that explains why her creative message is so incredibly powerful and convincing.”

Thierry Dufrene, Modern Art Historian, Professor of Modern Art, Nanterre University, Paris, says: “Maryam understood this a long time ago. The first time I saw her gouache drawings and abstract compositions, immediately I was certain that what she does, what she is trying to portray, is a return to something primordial, before shapes, colours and beings were separated from each other, when everything was pure light, part of the same being, the one whole. Up to then, there was no distinction between people, animals, plants, and minerals. And precisely because she is a painter, Maryam is able to reveal all of this through an abundance of colours and effervescence of shape and form.”

Inge H.Schmidt, Art critic, Berlin Art Academy, writes: “Mixing her paints with the greatest love, she creates a harmony in each of her paintings the strength of which it is impossible to overestimate. It makes no difference what she paints, whether it`s a horse, a fox, a lion or some other kind of animal, they are all worthy of being loved. And it makes no difference how many times she paints them. Each painting is very individual. The same can be said of her paintings of flowers. At that time, I thought that I might never meet Maryam, and may be there`s no need to. Her paintings say so much about her, and how she sees, feels, and experience the world around her. I opened her exhibition in Berlin on 4 May. In my introductory speech, I made a particular point of how Maryam uses incredibly fresh colours in her work. Her paintings are very direct and sincere, and it`s very hard to believe that between them, and the person who painted them, is a pair of hands and a paintbrush.”


/AzerTAg/