OLD CITY

ANAR HUSEYN-ZADA Early Life and Education Anar was born in 1981 in Baku. He has been drawing since he was 6. Surprising his whole family, in which there was no tradition of art at all, he went to a painting circle at the House of Pioneers and methodically, with enviable and painstaking patience, passed through every stage of education, graduated from high school of arts, then college of arts named after Azim Azimzade, which came in the end to the academy of arts where he received a bachelor's degree and later a master's. He exhibited his works at exhibitions of young artists, and later adults. He took part in collective exhibitions abroad in countries such as; Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Moldova and England. Anar is member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan. In 2014 he held a personal exhibition with the support of the Ministry of Culture «Legends speak...». Not being locked into his own individual world nor suffering from delusions of grandeur, the artist Anar has a very clear idea of his objective - to destroy borders and to fill the space that exists, in his opinion, between western fine art and that of Azerbaijan. "The Soviet Union gave Azerbaijan many good things. But whichever way you look at it, it interfered greatly with the development of painting. The artificially imposed Social Realism stifled creative thinking and that is why art in Azerbaijan now is lagging behind European art in terms of modernity and originality" says Anar. Of course, this kind of revolutionary impulse is not unprecedented. Anar does not claim to be the first in the field. His inspirations were the mid-20th century masters, especially Mir-Javad: "At that time they were striving to break down barriers and we continue their work today." Group Exhibitions / Projects Anar has taken part in collective exhibitions in Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and England. In addition, Anar is a member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan and has exhibited works throughout Azerbaijan since 2005. 2005 «Still Life» group exhibition of young artists. «Yeni» gallery / Baku, Azerbaijan 2006 «From Holiday to Holiday» group exhibition of young artists. Exhibition salon named after V.Samedova / Baku, Azerbaijan 2007 «Germany Through the Eyes of One Artist» group exhibition. «Qiz Qalasi» gallery, Embassy of Germany in Azerbaijan / Baku, Azerbaijan «Love Rainbow» group exhibition. Museum Center / Baku, Azerbaijan 2008 Azerbaijan Artists Exhibition. «Baku-Berlin» gallery / Berlin, Germany. «Friendship» group exhibition. «Xazri» gallery / Baku, Azerbaijan 2009 XII Artists Symposium. Turksoy / Samsun-Amasia, Turkey Culturescapes Festival. Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan / Basel, Switzerland 2010The International Art Festival. «Qiz Qalasi» gallery / Baku, Azerbaijan «X-point» group exhibition. Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan / Baku, Azerbaijan I&II Qabala International Art Exhibition. Azerbaijan Culture Foundation / Qabala, Azerbaijan 2011 VI Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art. Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan / Tashkent, Uzbekistan 2012 «Art and Energy» art contest (1-st place). SOCAR / Baku, Azerbaijan «Blue water» group exhibition. Four Seasons Hotel / Baku, Azerbaijan 2013 «The Lights of Baku» art contest (3-rd place). Bakielektrikshebeke / Baku, Azerbaijan Symposium of Artists of Azerbaijan & Moldova. Embassy of Azerbaijan in Moldova / Chisinau, Moldova 2015 «Tearful Khojaly» group exhibition. National Palaces Painting Museum / Istanbul, Turkey 2016 «12» group exhibition. Museum of Modern Art / Baku, Azerbaijan Exhibitions of Note 2014 Personal exhibition organized by Ministry of Culture «Legends speak...». / Baku, Azerbaijan 2018 Personal exhibition «Tale of Absheron» /Azerbaijan Cultural Center, Vienna / Council of Europe’s Art Gallery, Strasbourg / Azerbaijan Cultural Center «Karabagh», Luxembourg. 2021 Personal exhibition «Tale of Absheron» / «Gazelli» Art House, Baku. 2023 Exhibition organized by Heydar Aliyev Foundation within the framework of Art Shopping Festival / Gallery of “Carrousel du Louvre”, Paris. Notable Works In 2007 The First Lady of Azerbaijan, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva presented Anar’s “Old City” to the UN office in Switzerland. In 2009, during the official visit of Turkish Prime Minister in Azerbaijan the "Sunny Inner city” has been selected by the executive of the city of Baku and handed to the Prime Minister as a present. The painting "Legend of Baku" has a place in the collection of paintings of Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The "Space" adorns the walls of National Museum of Azerbaijan and the painting "Harp" is in collection of Modern Museum of Azerbaijan. Works of Anar are in private collections in many countries: UK, Austria, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.