Songs on paintings by a great artist

The very name of the exhibition invites the viewer to dialogue, the opportunity to hear what the artist wrote. “Muzafar’s Songs” is a metaphor for the fixation, the experienced moment, the impression and the inner voice that the surrounding world speaks to a person or vice versa. In the works of Nurshidin Baratov, the landscape ceases to be only an image of nature - it becomes a visual poem filled with light, breath of space, silence and barely perceptible movement of time, conveying in the moment of plein air mood, rhythm, color intonation, emotional response to what he saw.

Absolutely harmonious at the opening of the exhibition was the sound of unusual musical instruments - duduk and sassyrna, on which Yerbol Akhmetov played. The musician admitted that in the hall of the East, where Nurshidin’s exhibition is presented, these instruments sound completely special.

One of the main features of Baratov’s painting is the ability to work directly from nature, quickly fixing the moment. In his works, the freshness of the first impression, the movement of light, the state of the air, the subtlest changes in color relations are important. The artist himself has repeatedly noted that it is the state that becomes the main object of painting for him.

- At my exhibitions, you will not see works of the “postcard” plan of Almaty like the TV tower or the Opera and Ballet Theater. I don’t have stories that are easily recognizable and perhaps easier to sell. I offer above all my painting, my ability to see and feel. For me, it is important that the work is acquired not only because of the recognizable plot, but for what it is, for what it has in addition to the obvious image. I want a person to choose a picture not because there is a familiar place on it, but because the work itself touched something in the soul.

No reproduction or photograph will convey the magic and magical effects of the painting on a person. Nurshidin’s works are not only breathtaking landscapes and still lifes, but also topics that you want to comprehend and understand. That is, first comes aesthetic admiration, and then questions. For example, to a huge canvas, which depicts an expensive frame, and inside a QR code, which, incidentally, refers to the author, and the famous phrase from the novel by Ilf and Petrov “Twelve chairs” – Jenemange pasde six jours (“I haven’t eaten for six days”).

- In this work, I wanted to show that artists are masters who gradually cease to be necessary for society. Here is a kind of hint that today there are musicians and beggars on the streets nearby. Everyone has a QR code to which you can transfer money. And people don't give them necessarily for a good piece of music, but rather for the fact that a person can play an instrument, no matter how well. For some people, this option of “begging” becomes almost the only way to earn money. I think artists are in a similar position today. And every year it becomes more difficult. If you pay attention to this work, you can notice the contrast: the frame is very modest, and the canvas is "placed" in a gilded frame - such as can be seen in the Louvre. Yes, I can make a work of art, I can speak the language of painting, but at the same time I feel compelled to say, I haven't eaten in six days. Give me money for food.” Of course, this does not apply to me personally. Rather, it is my attitude towards artists and the situation in which many of them find themselves. At the same time, success often comes to those who follow fashion, adapt to current trends and turn art into business. Such artists can earn a lot of money. And in this I see a certain contradiction: art can still be high and deep, but the artist increasingly has to prove not the value of his art, but his own ability to be in demand.

Made a strong impression and canvas, located directly opposite the entrance to the Hall of the East. Here is read immediately recognizable message to the painting by the Armenian artist Vardges Surenyants “Abandoned”, stored in the collection of the Kasteev Museum. Only if Surenyants depicts a woman who found herself at the door of the house - exiled, lost, with a small knot of personal belongings, then Nurshidin has a red suitcase with tags of different flights in front of the luxurious old door.

- I wanted to rethink this painting of Surenyants through modernity: and instead of a small kit, a traveler’s suitcase appears. It becomes a symbol of a modern woman – mobile, independent, used to move between cities, countries and life circumstances. But there is a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty behind external freedom. Thus, in the work there is a contrast between the past and the present, between the image of a woman forced to leave the house and a modern woman who chooses where she goes, or is forced to be constantly on the move. The suitcase becomes a connecting element between these two eras. In this work, the important question for me was how confident a person feels in the modern world. Circumstances, opportunities and the outer form of life have changed, but the feeling of instability, the need to find one’s place and support remains. Through dialogue with the old painting, I address this state from the perspective of modern man.

With such serious themes, Nurshidin's garden becomes more meaningful, and yet even with such artistically asked serious questions, there is a lot of music in it. We give only two examples, while on each canvas everything says something, reminds, whispers.