Aydar Ishemgulov. Persons and characters. Wood sculpture

Aidar Ishemgulov - sculptor, painter. Born in Ufa in 1976. He studied painting at the Ufa State Institute of Arts. Member of the creative association "Artysh" since 1995. Member of the Union of Artists of Russia since 2001. Laureate of the 1st degree and prize-winner of the First Republican contest of young artists of Bashkortostan for the best work of fine art in the nomination "Easel sculpture" (Ufa, 2003). Exhibitor of many national and regional exhibitions. Personal exhibitions were exhibited in Ufa, St. Petersburg, Ghent (Belgium), Iowa City (USA). Lives and works in St. Petersburg.

From an article by Ruslan Bakhtiyarov “Returning to the origins of art. The work of Aydar Ishemgulov "

<…> Aidar’s long practice in the field of painting to a certain extent affected the work on sculptural works, where the master in some cases applies coloring as one of the significant components of the aesthetic expressiveness of the work. Such are the sculptures “Sailor” and “Fight”, where the use of decorative possibilities of color allows not only to identify and emphasize the main plastic volumes, but also to give the image more certainty, to bring it closer to the viewer. At the same time, in such works as The Thinker, Mill Millstone, Harmonist, and Horse, the conventionality of form takes on independent artistic significance. Creative rethinking of the plastic language of the works of Zadkin, Arkhipenko, Brancusi - the largest sculptors of the twentieth century, as well as the ancient Turkic monuments, stunning with their laconic angular power, preserved in the Urals and Altai, allowed Ishemgulov to create images that are modern and, at the same time, organically associated with centuries-old art the culture of the whole ethnic group.

In the works of this master, it is important not only the ability to convincingly convey the moment of effort, great physical stress, filling the conditional form with huge plastic energy. The static compositional solution is also a deliberate artistic device, informing a work created from a rough block of wood or a huge stump, emphasized monumentality, materiality, weight. This is another important feature of the work of Aydar, who in a number of his sculptures recreates the images of folklore <…>

In general, several sculptural series can be distinguished in Ishemgulov’s work, to which the author himself gives names in accordance with the external appearance of the works included in them. <…> The main thing in his work is the desire to express the deep connection of his work with the centuries-old traditions of Bashkir folk art and culture in a complex and multifaceted plastic image. There are undoubtedly many more genuine creative discoveries waiting for this talented original artist.