Nazrin Mammadova

b. 1989, Kutaisi, Georgia

She lives and works in Baku

Nazrin Mammadova graduated from The Eurasian Diplomatic Academy of Azerbaijan in 2010 and in 2012 finished a Bachelor of Arts with Honors degree at The British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow. Alongside her studies she took photography classes and became a member of the Azerbaijan Photographers’ Union in 2012. Already a formidable talent, she is one of the youngest artists who participated in the 2012 Baku Public Art Festival. Nazrin started to demonstrate her talent in photography in 2008. Her series Flat Echo consists of ten works, each containing two independent self-supporting photographs. The series reveals her personal approach to the people in the photographs and how she applied herself with enthusiasm to the project. It has a self-conscious aim of trying to define subconscious collaboration between the artist and subject, united through the flat echo.

After a short period of time Nazrin joined YARAT Contemporary Art Space in 2012 as a member of the coordinating board. The Caspian project, produced with steel, glass, cement and sea water from the Caspian Sea, focuses attention on an extremely important ecological problem related to the water level in the Caspian Sea, leading to the collapse of seaside landscapes, infrastructure and the decrease of biological diversity. The artist expresses her concern about the dangers of climate change, one of the most pressing threats for humanity in the twenty-first century. The installation, now on display in Baku’s old city, also serves to remind us that the Caspian Sea once covered the territory where the dynamic and rapidly expanding modern city of Baku now stands.

Nazrin’s art can be considered a deductive exploration of the universe, humanity, people, and individuality. She does this by combining her internal process, developed through the above elements and their substance, with her personal approach and concerns, communicated via various media. The artist is also not afraid of springing from one extreme of a concept to another, exploring a variety of interpretations. This acute and defiant approach, a ceaseless search within the deep layers of her personality, facilitates her individual artistic development by ignoring the confines of time and space.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2014

A Time for Dreams, 4th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, MMOMA, Moscow, Russia

START Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK

GRID Photo Festival, Vondel CS, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The 16th Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

2013

ЗАВОД, Baku Air Conditioning Plant Building, Azerbaijan

Pat Situation, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan

2012 

III Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia

Merging Bridges, Azerbaijani and British Contemporary Art, curated by Adam Waymouth, Museum of Modern Art, Baku, Azerbaijan

[012] Baku Public Art Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan

2010

Foreword, Launch of YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan

Art Bazaar, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Veten Cinema, Baku, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Women, photography exhibition, Museum Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan

2009

Aluminum 4, The International Biannual Festival, Museum Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan