Collaborating with STEMS, the ESMB Gallery presents TENGRI – Star Seeds by Kazakh-born British artist Aigana Gali, her first solo show in the Middle East. Drawing shapes and colours from her subconscious, Gali’s art pieces portray mysterious patterns and biomorphic forms. They are dedicated to enigmatic forces, such as ancient wisdom, the cycles of nature and cosmic order, that shape our lives. The exhibition, which is being held at the Foundry Downtown art space in Dubai, will be open to the public until the 7th of January, 2024.
The exhibited series of paintings titled Star Seed emerges from the void of the steppe mountains of Kazakhstan, the artist’s homeland. Tengrism is an ancient religion based on shamanism and animism, and Tengri mentioned in the show’s title is a supreme sky god. Adherents of this religion relate themselves to nature and understand that they are a part of it. So Gali’s artworks on view explore the deep recurring themes in art and spirituality, “how we experience the mystery of nature and find our place in the world”.
About the artist
Aigana Gali (b. 1980, Almaty, Kazakhstan), who resides in London (UK), works with a full range of mediums, which include canvas, paper, oils, acrylics, textiles, and bronze, among others. In 2005, she earned a BFA from the Kazakh Leading Academy of Art and Architecture (Almaty, Kazakhstan). In 2007, she obtained a scientific candidate’s degree in Art History from the Institute Of Literature and Art (Academy of Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty). Under the artist’s belt is also an MA Course in Art Business (Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, 2011). Gali appeared in several Kazakh films. She also worked as a costumier and a guest art director at the Rambert (London, 2010) and the Marjanishvili Theatre Tbilisi (2014).
Gali grew up in Almaty surrounded by the wild open Eurasian Steppe, so its influence permeates her art. “I can see the nature of my land in everything I do,” the artist says. In her abstract large-scale canvases and textile works, Gali examines the world of nature and draws her limitless inspiration from her cultural heritage as well as myths, beliefs, and legends from various cultures.
Considering herself a vessel through which her art is translated into the world, Gali uses automatic painting and surrenders to her process’s transformative powers. She delves into universal human themes by looking at them through the prism of opposites: the tangible world and the spiritual realm, reality and imagination, human creations and nature, being and nothingness.
The artist has showcased her creations in some solo and group exhibitions: Tengri (Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, 2022); an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (London, 2022); stART Art Fair (Saatchi Gallery, London, 2019); Steppe (Georgian National Museum of Art, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2016); VP studio art4.ru Museum (Moscow, Russia, 2016); OYU Art Gallery (Almaty, 2009); Untitled (AVA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, 2004), and others. Gali’s artworks have been obtained by such collections as the Kistefos Museum (Jevnaker, Norway), Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura Atelier Collection (Barcelona, Spain), and The Bunker Artspace Museum (USA), to name a few.
To learn more about TENGRI – Star Seeds, please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
You might also be interested in visiting Love Letter by Luis Gispert and Tethys by Nabil Nahas.
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