The Exhibition Centre of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan hosted a personal exhibition of paintings by Nuriddin Nyyazov, «The Earth is Our Home», dedicated to the artist’s 75th anniversary.
Nuriddin Nyyazov was born in Kerki, a small town in the southeast of the country. He received his art education at the art school in Dushanbe. Art critics in the media always emphasise the avant-garde of Mary artists. This fact was facilitated by a group of talented artists who were an example for aspiring artists. Nuriddin Nyyazov, who lived in a provincial town, did not have the opportunity to communicate with masters of painting, so his teachers and idols in creativity were Italian artists of the Revival epoch and the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
Nuriddin Nyyazov did not imitate or copy recognised geniuses, he studied their work, looked for secrets in the works of Leonardo da Vinci and found keys to their solutions. The catalog prepared for the exhibition «Earth is Our Home» provides five certificates of copyright based on the results of the study in the name of Nuriddin Nyyazov. The Institute of History of the Peoples of Central Asia named after Makhpirat (Tashkent) awarded Nuriddin Nyyazov the academic title of Honourary Academician. At the award ceremony, someone present said: «In our practice, this has never happened before, that an artist with a secondary education became an Honourary Academician».
By the way, the catalogue is also unusual in that it begins not with the biography of the hero of the day, as is customary, but with fragments from N. Nyyazov's poem «Jeýhun akýar». At the grand opening of the exhibition, Nuriddin Burkhanovich recited one of his poems to visitors.
For his anniversary, N. Nyyazov exhibited 70 paintings of different themes and genres. The main theme is the fragility of our planet. Two of his works, «The Call of the Earth» and «The Plea of the Earth», are dedicated to helping people understand that the Earth currently has serious problems and help cope with them. One of the paintings in the cycle is «Global Warming», which brings drought to all life on Earth. Prepare for cataclysms, be on the alert and do not aggravate the already not very rosy situation - these are the tasks facing humanity.
The theme «Earth is my home» includes the artist's warning about the mortal danger of drugs. In the film «Consequences of Drug Addiction» he showed so clearly what evil drug addiction leads to that he probably discouraged many young people who wanted to relax with this potion. The work is done in the genre of surrealism.
A significant place in the exhibition is occupied by paintings from the cycle «The World of Magtymguly's Poetry». As a rule, the works from this cycle are made in realistic or symbolic genres. The author introduced visitors to paintings from the cycle «The World of Leonardo da Vinci», where the artist most often depicted Mona Lisa (Gioconda). The painting «The Da Vinci Code» shows the gaze of a metaphysical creature turned to a ball symbolising infinity. In the background, Leonardo da Vinci himself is closely watching the creature from the drapery of the blanket.
Time, the world of infinity - these themes still haunt Nuriddin Nyyazov, and the artist, standing at the easel, begins to think in his own way, resorting to the hints of Salvador Dali.
In 2017, at the last personal exhibition of Nuriddin Nyyazov's works, which took place in the same exhibition centre, the dominant painting was «The World of Infinity». The artist depicted a microscope and a telescope in the same device, once again asked the eternal question about the primacy of the chicken or the egg, and presented a leg, implying technical progress, which resolutely headed beyond the horizon... The painting made a special impression on the audience.
This time, the main painting at the exhibition was the work «Metaphysical Hand Reaching Out to Other Planets». Painted in the style of Salvador Dali, the painting conceals many mysteries. On the hand stretched out to infinity is a watch without a dial, which indicates the absence of time, next to the watch are galloping horsemen, as well as a knight chess piece. In the distance, on a small island of land, there is a lighthouse. If you look closely, you can see the silhouettes of Adam and Eve in the outlines of the lighthouse. And instead of a head, the metaphysical man has a planet similar to the Moon. Perhaps the author wanted to say that man is a part of nature and is interconnected with it. But man is very ambitious and stretches out his hands where he is not asked. And the slightest deviation from the Earth's trajectory can bring another planet down on his head. Perhaps the author has a more optimistic interpretation.
Telling about himself, Nuriddin Nyyazov emphasises: «I walked my own path, often under cold clouds of misunderstanding, alone, overcoming the thorny path of life in art». It seems to us that the artist is being a little disingenuous: in 2013, he was awarded the «Gayrat» medal for his contribution to the culture of Turkmenistan, and this means recognition of Nuriddin Nyyazov's talent. The spectators who came to the exhibition looked with great attention at the not always understandable, but always interesting works of the Kerki phenomenon. And from the reaction of the visitors it was noticeable that they like the work of Nuriddin Nyyazov.
