Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

A solo exhibition by artist Rashad Babayev was opened at the Baku Museum of Modern Art last week.

About 30 works and 3 installations are on display at the month-long exhibition titled 'The Island'.

The exhibition is metaphorically called The Island as if it plunges a spectator into this world of Zen mysticism. Masterfully possessing the language of the non-figurative art and without attaching great importance to household details, the artist aspires achieving rather intuitive comprehension of the whole and his pieces are distinguished with timelessness, fancy pointlessness and surprising simplicity.

Spontaneous application of paints and half-abstract forms, generated by imaginations and dreams of the colorist, transfers something mysterious and radiate internal light. It makes a viewer appreciate the works of the artist at his personal exhibition separately.

Speaking to the opening ceremony, Head of the YARAT Contemporary Art Space and Curatorial Director of the Baku Museum of Modern Art, Aida Mahmudova said this exhibition marks the end of a long summer break.

She said that although young, Rashad had his works exhibited in many cities across the world, including in Venice where he represented YARAT at Azerbaijan`s pavilion at Biennale 2013.

Babayev was originally trained as a lawyer before starting to paint in 2000. In 2005 he became a member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan. The vivid colors used in his paintings and collage works mask the more solemn subjects which the artist tackles.