THE HIDDEN AND THE REVEALED OF GEYUR YUNUS. PAINTING. GRAPHICS.

 

From  April 23 , to May 30, 2011 the State Museum of Oriental Art with the assistance and direct participation of the Mardjani Foundation presents the " The hidden and the revealed of Geyur Yunus. PAINTING. GRAPHICS " –  the art exhibition of the Azerbaijani artist Geyur Yunus.

 

The  modern art of Azerbaijan is known in today's Russia much less than in Western European countries. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the previous inter-republic culture ties were almost cut off and the works of the Azerbaijani artists had virtually no exhibition in Russia. At the same time, the New Wave of the 1980s had raised the Azerbaijani painting to a significant phenomenon in the world art. Apart from the widely known artists like Takhir Salakhov and Togrul Narimanbekov other painters arose who turned to different, greatly diverse subjects.

 

Nowadays the works of Azerbaijani artists seems to be remarkable and highly significant phenomenon in the world art. Undoubtedly, easel painting stand out sharply against the background. The present and centuries-old traditions, the western education and eastern luxury nostalgia, the knowledge of modern art trends and masterful grasp of the artistic skills worthy of the old masters intertwined in their paintings.

The unique style of Geyur Yunus (in accordance with Azerbaijani traditions he signs his works by first name alone - Geyur) stands out in this range. This artist is the keeper of the mystic epos implemented in visual images by colors and lines. In his works he combines conceptually and desire for romance.

Geyur Yunus is one of the most brilliant modern artists infatuated with eastern motives. In his individual, often unexpected aspiration, he takes advantage of novel forms and his own understanding of the subject. Geyur apprehends the world as a single and harmonious whole. The roots of this desire originate directly in Koranic ideas.

In spite of the fact that Islamic motives run through the work of Geyur, he also turns to Christian motives, paying homage to European painting traditions. The combination of western and eastern, modern and ancient art traits allows to undoubtedly state the synthetic nature of his art.

What is interesting is the artist's treatment of the image of man, which is often endowed with a constellation of favorable qualities: the purity of thought, kindness, belief, moral strength. The heroes of Geyur's work are close to an image of the Perfect Man, classical in Islam, that also shows the intimacy with ancient tradition, calling forth the interconnection between the outward and the inner beauty.

The efforts to discover fabulous in the everyday life lead the artist to a miraculous composition of the mythic and the real. Routine deeds turn into a performance, the truthful into the veritable, a gesture into the sign, a chat into the talk. All of these heighten the importance of what is going on, converts it from the categoiy of everyday living to the level of existence. At the same time, subjects and motives in Geyur's works are often veiled, and even thoroughly encoded. This means that the painting is perceived level by level, and one veil lifts to show another.

The hidden is always present in the Geyur's works. Even showing the simpliest objects, he now and then hampers their recognition, changing the entire image to the level of the Sublime, belonging to eternity. This is how the sanctification of the genre motives, also typical for the traditional Islamic art applying to eternal values and meanings, takes place.

Geyur proves himself to be a refined, courtly colorist. Finest glazing creates an almost nacre surface on the canvas. The painter often conceives not the paints, but the color of precious stones: if the red, then ruby, if the green, then emerald... The color of pearls - white - is especially adored by the artist, acquiring multiple shades of meaning. Sometimes his rounding white strokes indicate stars, sometimes - light, diamonds, pearls, sometimes - the Ideal.

Speaking of Geyur's work as an entity, it is an endless dhikr. This is the name for an important ritual of the repetition of the Names of God in Islam. It is significant that in spite of the existence of God's diverse qualities, the faithful states in his prayer that Allah is the One. In the same way, every Geyur's painting possesses unique qualities with all the entity of his work permeated with prevailing themes and constant reference to the idea of the Absolute. Every painting carries its own meaning and the central theme independently, as if reminding of multiple nuances of the One.

It is pleasant that the first Geyur's personal exhibition in Moscow takes place within the walls of the State Museum of Oriental Art. It enables to compare his peculiar work with the entire spectrum of oriental cultures, both ancient and modern, widely presented in the collection of one of the most interesting museums of Russia.

Biography:

26.03.1948          Born in Amirajan settlement, Baku.

1971                    Graduated from Azimzade Azerbaijan Art College.

1977                    Graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts.

From 1972 onwards Taking part in multiple exhibitions in Azerbaijan and abroad: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iran, Norway, Poland, Russia, Syria, Turkey, UK, USA.

From 1980 onwards Member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan.

1995   Laureate of Humay International Award

Personal Exhibitions

1988                   Baku, Azerbaijan

1988                   Kostanay, Kazakhstan

1988                   Pavlodar, Kazakhstan

1989                   Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan

1990                   Saint-Paul de Vance, France

1992                   Baku, Azerbaijan

1996                   Baku, Azerbaijan

1998                   Baku, Azerbaijan

2001                   London, UK

2005                   Baku, Azerbaijan

2010                   Baku, Azerbaijan

Selected Collections

State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow); State Museum of Oriental Art (Moscow); Azerbaijan State Museum of Art (Baku); International Friendship Museum (Tbilisi); Pavlodar Art Museum (Pavlodar); Museum of Fine Arts (Komsomolsk-on-Amur); Ethnological Museum of Berlin (Berlin), L'Orangerie Gallery (Saint-Paul de Vance); Rockefeller collection (New York) and other galleries and private collections all over the world.

 

Accreditation and additional information:
 
Verbina Elena +7 (916) 619-72-01, pr-mfond@yandex.ru

 

Opening: April 22 at 17:00

 

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