Ramal Kazim
b.1987, Ganja
He lives and works in Baku
Ramal Kazim graduated from the Azerbaijani State Academy of Arts in 2008 and was noticed immediately by professional critics for his very mature and somewhat dark style. Since 2009 he has been a member of the Azerbaijan Artist's Union. Kazim’s works have been exhibited extensively in Azerbaijan and abroad (most notably in Paris) and he recently completed an artist residency in Milan, in cooperation with FARE.
Kazim’s expressively realist figures and imagery immediately and bluntly address issues that are taboo in Azerbaijan. Using strategies of shock and provocation, the compositions generate the ‘presence’ of the models through a mixture of unique poses and a sinuous and expressive painting technique. Stylistically echoing the works of Francis Bacon and Edvard Munch, Kazim’s compositions frankly compose a visual diary of human experience through keen observation and acute curiosity. The figures are representative of an experimental portraiture that lives on the border between reality and abstraction. With startling acuity for such a young artist, the compositions balance qualities of violence and tenderness that instills in viewers a sense of both shock and awe, suspending reaction while the mind processes the intriguing works. Images combine broken bottle fragments, violent gestures, and contorted faces that twist in pain and passion. Overt nudity is purposefully stripped of eroticism as one is forced to confront the realities of the flesh in all its textures, faults, and frailties.
The sense of provocation and aggression that is such a central element of the artworks is, interestingly, the antithesis of the artist’s own personal qualities.
Solo Exhibitions:
2012
Ramal Kazim solo exhibition, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2014
Blue Background, YAY Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan
2013
Home, Sweet Home, Baku MoMA, Azerbaijan; Contemporary art from Azerbaijani Cultural Centre in Paris, France
Tashkent International Biennale, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Ganja Art Festival, organised by YARAT, Ganja, Azerbaijan
2012
Blue Water, Exhibition, Four Seasons Hotel, Baku, Azerbaijan
Merging Bridges, by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Museum of Contemporary Art, Baku
Exhibition of Azerbaijani Young Painters, co-organised by the Azerbaijan Embassy in France and Dirchelish (‘Revival’) Youth Social Psychological Rehabilitation Centre, RTR GALLERY, Paris, France
2011
Germany with the Eye of Azerbaijani Painters, Qiz Qalasi Art Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan
Foreword, organised by YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Baku, Azerbaijan
2007
60th Anniversary of the Formation of the Israeli Government, Baku, Azerbaijan
2006
Near East University of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Cyprus, Turkey
