Arif Aziz (or: Ариф Азиз; * 1943 in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

; with full name: Aziz Arif Mokhubali / Азиз Ариф Мохубали) is an artist from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, living and teaching in its capital, Baku. He is one of Azerbaijan's internationally known contemporary artists and serves as his country's Ambassador for Peace, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Republic and Professor at Azerbaijani State University of Art and Culture.

Life

Arif Aziz was born in Baku in 1943, where he lives and works. He studied at first, between 1957 and 1962, at the

Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts (ASUCA; az, Azərbaycan Dövlət Mədəniyyət və İncəsənət Universiteti) was founded in 1923 on the basis of the Baku Theatrical College. It is Azerbaijan's main state-funded institution of h ...

. He then studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

in Moscow for five years. Since the early 1970s he teaches

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

at the country's art schools. In 2005 he took the chair of painting at

Beykent University Beykent University () is a foundation university in Istanbul, Turkey, teaching in English, Russian combined and Turkish with 29,401 students. Beykent University has agreements with European universities under the Socrates and Erasmus programmes, ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey, which he held until 2007. After that he became Dean of the

. Arif Aziz is married to Farida Azizova. They have three daughters. Aysel Aziz, Ayan Aziz Mammadova and Aylal Heydarova.

Works

When Aziz initially began painting he had to follow the teachings of

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

, which required that he paint glorified depictions of communist values. Despite this restriction he found a way to go around the restrictions of

Soviet times The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

and painted attractions, cities, and landscapes of his homeland in a figurative art style. In his art Aziz also combines the human face with traditional ornaments from his homeland, as well as influences gathered during travels to Africa, Moscow, Paris, Turkey and India. Aziz is credited as helping to shape a school of

abstractionism Abstractionism is the theory that the mind obtains some or all of its concepts by abstracting them from concepts it already has, or from experience.Geach, Peter (1957) Mental Acts - Their Contents and Their Objects. Routledge Kegan Paul. One may, ...

that has impacted many young Azerbaijanian artists.

Collections and public exhibitions

Public collections

Works by Arif Aziz can be found in the following

collections Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collection ...

: * ''

Azerbaijan Carpet Museum Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum ( az, Azərbaycan Milli Xalça Muzeyi, formerly called the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum) is a museum located in Baku that displays Azerbaijani carpets and rugs with historical and modern weaving techniques and materi ...

'' in Baku * ''

Baku Museum of Modern Art Baku Museum of Modern Art ( az, Bakı müasir incəsənət muzeyi) is a museum of modern art located in Baku, Azerbaijan. History The museum was built at the initiative of the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva and opened on 20 March 2009. ...

'' * ''

Moscow Museum of Modern Art The Moscow Museum of Modern Art is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Moscow, Russia. It was opened to public in December 1999. The project of the museum was initiated and executed by Zurab Tsereteli, president of the Russian Aca ...

'' * ''Senegal State Art Museum'' in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Exhibitions (selected)

The following are selected exhibits where Aziz' work has been displayed as either a solo work or as part of a main group exhibition. * solo show: ''Spirituelle Komposition'', Kunsthalle Dresden 2015 * solo show: ''Dance of Spirit'', Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin 2015 * solo show: ''Danamik und Symbolik'', Kunsthalle Messmer, Riegel (Germany) 2015 * group show: ''Yeni Era'', ''11'', World Art Academy Exhibition,

2014 * solo show: RTR Gallery, Paris 2013 * group show: Central House of Artists, Moscow 2011 * group show: ''Turkish Days in Azerbaijan'', Baku 2008

Bibliography

* Arif Aziz: ''Dance of Spirit'', (exhibition catalogue, edd. by Kunsthalle Messmer, Galerie Michael Schultz, Kunsthalle Dresden), Berlin 2015 * Arsalan Mohammed und Hans Bussert, ''From Baku to Berlin'', in: SLEEK – THE VISUAL CONTEMPORARY, Spring 2015, Berlin 2015, pp. 84–91

References

External links

*
Arif Aziz
at the ''World Academy of the Arts'', Baku
Gallery representation
at Michael Schultz Gallery, Berlin, Seoul, Beijing {{DEFAULTSORT:Aziz, Arif Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts alumni 1943 births Contemporary painters Living people Artists from Baku Azerbaijani expatriates in Turkey Academic staff of Beykent University