ARTLYST

Written by Nico Kos Earle

Aigana Gali, KOZ, 190 x 140 cm, acrylic,oil on canvas

Aigana Gali is a Kazakh multidisciplinary artist who works primarily on canvas and textiles. Born in Almaty to a Georgian mother and Kazakhstani father, Gali spent her formative years in the wild, open cradle of the Eurasian Steppe; its expansive geography and nomadic culture remain a constant source of her work. Gali became prominent with her solo exhibition Steppe at the Georgian National Museum, Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts. Described as ‘one of the brightest young talents of Kazakh modern art”, Gali moved to London in 2011. Over the past decade, she has developed a substantial body of work, delineated by series – Creation Myth, Steppe and Tengri – each representing a metaphorical chapter in her evolution as an artist and thinker and an attempt to translate her cultural milieu. Expansive and beguiling, her works explore the mysterious forces – ancient wisdom, nature’s cycles and cosmic order – that shape our lives. Art critic John McEwen wrote, “Almaty is where East met West on the Great Silk Road. Gali’s art is inspired by this rich history and the endless steppe of her homeland: ‘I can see its nature in everything I do… it’s the perfect “nothing’… you feel the true proportion of your personality against this enormous void.'”

Subtly infused with mythical and cosmological references, Gali’s luminous, vibrant paintings are both familiar and otherworldly. They embody the strange duality of our modern lives: simultaneously attuned to the global but materially shaped by the local. Historically inhabited by nomads, the name “Kazakh” comes from the ancient Turkic word qaz, “to wander”, and the Persian suffix -stan means “land” or “place of”, so Kazakhstan can be literally translated as “land of the wanderers”. Joining Kristin Hjellegjerde gallery in 2022.