Starting point Automatic translate

The Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art presents Yunus Safardiar’s exhibition "Starting Point" — a spatial fantasy about the human creator in the age of omnipotent technology.

• An artist whose monumental sculptures and installations are featured in museum collections, private collections, and public spaces around the world.
• Chromed bronze, polymer glass, video art and lighting effects combined into high-tech sculptures
• Artifacts of a post-apocalyptic future, where catastrophe becomes the beginning of the birth of a new world

Yunus Safardiyar was born in Samarkand, in an environment where creativity and crafts were an integral part of life and a continuation of centuries-old artistic traditions. Hence the material, artisanal nature of his works. At the same time, his art is electrified by the impulses of time and a thirst for plastic renewal. The artist combines video art with chromed bronze, polymer glass, and light effects, combining all of this into synthetic works that can boldly be called sculpture of the future.

In his work, technology is understood not as a finished product, but as an evolving and unfinished process, similar to the evolution of living matter. Safardiar’s works are rich in detail and original combinations of materials, yet their origins appear natural. Before our eyes, a new symbiotic system is emerging, where the machine interacts with the natural, destroying yet also creating something new.

The technological object here appears far from harmless, subject to human control. Thus, we see a huge, charred apparatus that buried a previous, clearly highly advanced civilization. But it also serves as a source of energy, fueling the emergence of new life — sprouts breaking through the seams. By integrating plants into his sculptures, which are perceived as fragments of the old world, the artist does not mourn the ecosystem destroyed by man. For him, flowers have a timeless aesthetic value, as something beautiful that requires preservation and serves as a starting point for a new universe. This is reminiscent of the traditional mythopoetic perception of the universe. If the world has not always existed, then it will end someday. And if it ends, something new will surely begin.

Despite the futuristic nature of Yunus Safardian’s works, they retain a human dimension: the imprint of the master’s hand, emotion, and a sense of responsibility for creation. The artist cautions against becoming a subject of technology, reminding us of the importance of preserving our creative spirit. And if he is not destined to become a god over matter, worlds can be generated within it.

About the author

Yunus Safardiar was born in Samarkand in 1968 and was fascinated by art from an early age. At age 13, he was enrolled in the Republican Boarding School for Gifted Children in Tashkent and from there began developing as an artist. In 1984, Yunus entered the I.E. Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture.

During his studies at the studio of academicians O.K. Komov and M.K. Anikushin, Safardiar not only honed his professional skills but also received the opportunity to complete an internship in the UK. After graduating with a gold medal, the artist returned to London, where he lives and works to this day.

Safardiar’s monumental sculptures typically combine various materials and techniques. The artist’s original technique is the use of transparent elements, which transform the surrounding space. Yunus Safardiar’s works are held in museum and private collections worldwide, including in St. Petersburg, New York, Florida, and London.