Babi Badalov (born 18 June 1959) is an

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 ...

i visual artist. Since 2011 he lives and works in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Life and work

Babi Badalov was born as Babakhan Badalov in Lerik, a small town near the Iranian border in the Talysh region of Azerbaijan, to an

Azeri Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic people living mainly in Azerbaijan (Iran), northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republi ...

father and a

Talysh Talysh may refer to: *Talysh people *History of Talysh *Talysh language *Talysh Khanate, in existence from 1747 to 1828 *Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993 *Talysh M ...

mother. After serving two years in the Soviet Army, he moved to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(now Saint Petersburg) in 1980, where he quickly became a leading

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

artist and a member of the unofficial artists group the (TEII). Badalov participated in numerous art shows with the group in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and abroad. In the late 1980s, he met artists Vadim Ovchinnikov and Timur Novikov, members of the New Artists Group, and became involved in a variety of their projects and art campaigns. Badalov always found different ways of expressing his ideas through art objects,

paintings Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, installations and live performances. He also tested himself on the movie set of

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

Russian film director Evgeniy Kondratiev. In addition to his visual explorations, Badalov experiments with words and writes obscure poetry, mixing the languages and mentalities of different cultures. Even though Russian is not his first language, he won the poetry contest. In 1990, Badalov mysteriously disappeared from the

art scene and became a legendary figure, and an

inspiration Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible * Creative inspirat ...

and a role model for younger generations of Russian artists. Today, Badalov continues to exhibit around the world and develop his new ideas. His latest concept was a series of ecological art objects called ''Dolls for Adults'', where he isolated the

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

of nature inside his own clothes. He is also working on a number of visual projects dedicated to linguistic explorations, questioning how a person can become the victim of a

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

barrier, trying to untangle the confusion of the

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

mix. In 2007, world-renowned

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

-based

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

and curator Victor Misiano invited Badalov to take part in a number of exhibitions, where he displayed his audio-visual projects. In 2010, he took part in ''

Manifesta 8 Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...

'' in Cartagena, Region of Murcia, Spain, ''The Watchmen, the Liars, the Dreamers'' at ,

and ''Lonely at the Top (LATT): Europe at Large #5'' (2010), with

Vyacheslav Akhunov Vyacheslav Akhunov (; ; born 1948), is a Kyrgyz-born Uzbeks, Uzbek visual artist, and author. He is known for performance art, video art, and painting. Akhunov lives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Biography Vyacheslav Akhunov was born in 1948 in Osh ...

and Azat Sargsyan at

M HKA The Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp ( nl, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, commonly abbreviated as ''M HKA'', previously ''MuHKA'') is the contemporary art museum of the city of Antwerp, Belgium. Its current director is Bart de Baere. Overview ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. In 2011, Badalov was granted asylum in France due to threats of an

honor killing An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...

in Azerbaijan because of his homosexuality. In 2019, his work was shown in the group exhibition ''Hotel Europa: Their Past, Your Present, Our Future'' at Open Space of Experimental Art, Tbilisi, and in the two solo exhibitions ''Soul Mobilisation'' at La Verrière - Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, Brussels and ''Het is of de stenen spreken (silence is a commons)'' at Casco Art Institute, Utrecht.

Publications

* 1990: Jule Reuter, ''GegenKunst in Leningrad'', München, * 1993: Jean-Pierre Brossard; Boris Smelov; Manoir de la ville de Martigny.; et al., ''Saint-Petersbourg Alter'', * 2011: Bart De Baere, ''Europe at large: art from the former USSR, '' * 2012: Babi Badalov, ''Nuage'', * 2013: The Collection as a Character, The M HKA Collection, * 2014
Catalog ''Tranzit Exhibition'', Jan 22-Apr 13, New Museum

References

External links

*
Babi Badalov's blog

Babi Badalov's Visual Poetry

Exhibition ''Monument to Transformation'', May 2009, Prague

В Санкт-Петербурге прошла выставка азербайджанского художника-концептуалиста Баби Бадалова

Braziers Workshop

''Very Simple Actions without Any Particular Purpose'', 2009, ARTRA gallery, Milan

Web page of New Museum exhibition

Web page exhibition ''Easteria'', Gandy gallery, 10 Mar - 9 May 2014

''Manifesta 8'' web page with some of Babi's poems
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badalov, Babi 1959 births Living people Azerbaijani people of Talysh descent Azerbaijani poets Azerbaijani artists Gay painters Gay poets 20th-century Azerbaijani painters 21st-century Azerbaijani painters Azerbaijani emigrants to France Artists from Saint Petersburg Azerbaijani LGBT people Talysh people 21st-century LGBT people