Ali Hasanov
b. 1976, Baku, Azerbaijan
He lives and works in Baku and Moscow
A graduate of the Azim Azimzadeh State Art College (1993) and Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art in Baku (1997), Ali received a degree in Film-making from Rustam Ibragimbekov’s Baku International Film School (2010), followed up by another degree from the Moscow School of New Cinema (2013).
Hasanov was known as a brash nonconformist even back in his student years, and has since continued to be known as someone who thinks outside the box. He is predominantly interested in poetry, rock music and film directing, becoming the first active performance artist in Azerbaijan. He is also a member of the creative association Wings of Time (2000). His work can be seen regularly at the Museum Centre of Azerbaijan and he has been exhibited both in Azerbaijan (Baku and Ganja), and abroad in Russia, Georgia, France, Norway, Greece and Italy.
Ali pioneered performance art in Azerbaijan, represented his country at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007). He is also the founder and leader of a musical collective called PG Large Used Project. He remains active in various genres such as visual and performance art, video and sound installations, as well as painting and drawing.
One example of his performance art is that of a creature crawling into a black robe, a tragic image of ‘Spider Man’ gasping in a narrow space, saving himself by embracing his own identity by finding a way out of an amorphous dark structure. This piece symbolises the path of Azerbaijan in its struggle for independence.
Similar motifs resonate through the performance work Scatterheart. Here also, the language of body movement and music merges into a laconic installation, illustrating the path to freedom. But this time it is the path of a creative soul, which escapes the confines of a certain core or ‘shelter’ by destroying it, then searching for its place in the surrounding world to find its own niche into which to fit.
Solo Exhibitions
2013
Vice Versa, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2013
2009
Cathedral Spy, Protvor Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2009
Selected Projects and Exhibition
2014
Videofocus, Media Arts Festival, NCCA, Moscow, Russia
Marker: Caucasus and Central Asia, Azerbaijan Pavillion, Art Dubai 2014, Dubai, UAE
2013
Love Me, Love Me Not. Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours, Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2014; Collateral Event for the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Revelations, National Centre for contemporary art, Moscow, Russia
2012-3
Fly to Baku. Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan, Kunsthistorisches museum - Neue Burg, Vienna, Austria; Spazio D - Maxxi building National Museum of XXI Century arts, Rome, Italy; Spazio D MAXXI building, National Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome, Italy; Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia; me Collectors Room, Berlin, Germany; Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, Paris, France; Phillips de Pury& Company, London, UK
2012
Commonist, Contemporary Art Exhibition by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan
Griboedov, Artlinavalero Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Arsenium, 012 Baku Public Art Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan
Merging Bridges, Museum of Modern Art Baku, Azerbaijan
2011
Takeaway/Prisoner and The Great Caucasus, Perm Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia
Sonnet XXX (as Director and Art Director), Union of Cinematographers
2009
Think of the Radio and Appointment, DEPO, Istanbul, Turkey
Sentencia, Mars Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2007
Air Mail Video, Art Caucasus International Art Forum, Tbilisi, Georgia
Omnia Mea, The Pavilion of Azerbaijan, 52nd Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
2006
Keelcoushe, Rogaland Art Centre, Stavanger, Norway, 2006; East-or-West International Art Festival, Die, France
Caucasus, NCCA, Moscow, Russia
2005
A Memory Unit, Museum Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan
Blood with Milk, French Cultural Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan
2002
PG Large Used Project / Fridarumental 8000th Probe, Gender + Theatre Music Art Festival, Baku, Azerbaijan
1999
Sex 2000, Art Manezh, Moscow, Russia, 1999
Air Paws, Baku Art Centre, Baku, Azerbaijan, 1999
1998
The Brain of a Galapagos Tortoise, Benevolent Foundation for Aesthetic Development, Baku, Azerbaijan
