“47” Solo exhibition by Maryam Alakbarli
The name of the exhibition "47" is connected with Down Syndrome the artist Maryam Alakbarli has. It is know that in this case, instead of the standard 46 chromosomes, a person has 47. This “extra” chromosome leads to the fact that people who have it differ from everyone else in their appearance, their perception of the world and their attitude towards everyone around them. They are not able to grow up so they remain children for their whole life. They are sometimes called “sunny children”.
Indeed, in all Maryam’s works there is a lot of sun and light. 75 works are presented in five halls of the Museum Center. In the first three halls, the works created in recent years are exhibited. There are exactly 47 of them. This also contains a certain symbol. The landscapes here are striking and you can see mountains in such a different way. In her still lifes all facets of the magical beauty of the fruits and flowers of our land are expressed.
But the most striking phenomenon of this exhibition are Maryam Alakbarli’s bouquets. Such ones simply do not exist in nature. Only her artistic perception of the world could create such a unique phenomenon.
In the fourth hall you can see her works dedicated to one of the most famous books in the world: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. But this is her personal perception of the story. Perhaps it is precisely because of this her series is called: "My little prince." Based on these works, an animated film was made, which received an award at a festival in South Korea. A musical was staged at the Azerbaijan Musical Theater using these works.
The fifth hall presents works dedicated to the rock paintings of Gobustan. We are used to the fact that in Gobustan everything is painted in the color of stone. But in Maryam’s vision, the whole Gobustan glows with many colors. Mostly, it is red, yellow, green, blue and dark blue. She also has the petroglyphs themselves painted in gold. It also has its own symbolism.
Today, Maryam's works are exhibited all over the world. Her 92 works are in various private collections in Azerbaijan, France, Belgium, USA. Several of her works can be seen at the Museum of Modern Art in Baku.
