A solo exhibition has been opened at the State Academy of Arts of Turkmenistan to mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People’s Artist of Turkmenistan, Kakageldi Gurbangeldiyev. The artist has presented 170 paintings, all of them are about a village.
It creates the impression that the village of Taze oba in the Mary velayat, where he was born and raised, is his world, his universe. In every painting, he seems to return to childhood—to a land of carefree happiness. Together with his peers, he eagerly plays ball, bravely fights with sticks as if they were sabers, and joyfully takes part in other childhood games.
Kakageldi Gurbangeldiyev has his own distinctive style; his works cannot be confused with those of other artists. They are decorative and mostly monochromatic. The artist does not apply a thick layer of primer to the canvas, and at times the texture of the fabric shows through in his paintings, which adds an additional advantage to his works. He does not give titles to his paintings, dividing them instead into two main themes: childhood and rural landscapes. A smaller portion of his works consists of abstract compositions.
His characteristic manner—direct perspective calculated for a fixed viewpoint and working in tempera—emerged during his studies at the Turkmen State Art School. Upon entering the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov, Kakageldi Gurbangeldiyev worried that he might have to change his artistic style. However, his professor, Tair Salakhov, on the contrary, advised him to continue developing in his chosen direction.
In 1982, after graduating from the prestigious institute, he was invited to teach at the art school. There, he was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker of Turkmenistan. For more than ten years, Kakageldi Gurbangeldiyev shared his knowledge and experience with aspiring artists, and later he moved to a teaching position at the State Academy of Arts of Turkmenistan. In 2015, for his significant contribution to the art of painting, Kakageldi Gurbangeldiyev was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Turkmenistan.
To ensure that teaching would not interfere with his creative work, Kakageldi Gurbangeldiyev divided his working day into two parts. He spends the first half of the day with students and the second half working in his studio. According to his diploma, he is a monumental artist, yet the exhibition features small-sized paintings. The artist explains that from any painting—even one the size of a matchbox—it is easy to create a monumental work, and vice versa.
Incidentally, there are many large-format works in his studio, and he invited us and photojournalist Alexey Gimalitdinov to visit his studio at any convenient time. Perhaps we will take advantage of the artist’s invitation someday and become acquainted with his large-scale works. But that will be another story about the multifaceted creativity of this talented artist.
