In the workshop at work
In the workshop at work
Е. Tolepbai is a participant of the 60th international art exhibition Venice Biennale held at the Venice Maritime Museum in Venice
(Riva S. Biasio Castello, 2148, 30122) from April 20 to November 24, 2024. The Biennale takes place at the National Pavilion of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Zheruyik - Journey Beyond the Horizon”
Zheruyik is the promised land of Kazakh legends, which has come down to our days through oral tradition and many generations. It is a metaphor of search, aspiration, fragile knowledge. Ancient tales about the steppe philosopher Asan Kaigy tell about his attempts to lead the nomadic people to the lands free from disease and hunger, where time gives eternal life.
The word “kaigy” is translated from Kazakh as “sorrow”. In many folk proverbs, such as the expression “to fall into asana kaigy”, its name is used as a synonym for sadness. Sadness, like a thin veil, overhangs the memory of the many utopias that failed in the vast steppe, through a traumatic encounter with the dark side of modernity: the tragic famine of the 1930s, the craters from nuclear testing, the depleted Aral Sea and other scars on the body of the Kazakh land. The exhibition is based on a chronology of key works of utopian imagery by Kazakh artists from the 1970s (“Over the White Desert” - K. Mulashov), through works from the period of formation of contemporary art in Kazakhstan (“Baikonur-2” by S. Maslov) to the present day, including works based on artificial intelligence (“Presence” - Lena Pozdanykova and Eldar Tagi).
With independence, Kazakhstani art received a new impetus to rethink and decolonize the future, defying Soviet censorship and the approvals of the metropolis. This exhibition presents a collection of works by artists projecting their vision of futuristic worlds where spirits and mystical rituals meet (“Alastau” - A. Musrepov), nomadic culture is embodied in space stations (“Mobile Block” - S. Narynov), and visionary monumental painting opens portals that allow us to look beyond the horizon of events (“New Child. Rebirth” - E. Tolepbai). In our time, with its permanent turbulence, Zheruyyk becomes a guiding star on the way to overcoming the crisis of imagination.
Yerbolat Tolepbai was born in 1955 in Lenger, Kazakhstan, and lives and works in Almaty. He has been painting for five decades since the 1970s, becoming one of the key artists of his generation. His art has been recognized with solo exhibitions in 35 countries, including the Kasteev State Museum of Art, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Salle Miro at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the Kunstlerhaus in Vienna. The artist combines themes of spirituality and the modernist movement, and this unique approach has earned him international recognition, recognized by the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, as well as awards at international biennales in India and Egypt. His painting reflects a commitment to the manifestation of Kazakh identity, blurring the boundaries between the abstract and the figurative. Despite censorship and other restrictions of the Soviet era, Tolepbai's art has always demonstrated a relentless pursuit of independence, challenging the ideology that imposed the canon of realist painting.
New Child. Reborn. 2023-2024 (filmed in progress).
Yerbolat Tolepbai's monumental canvas for the Kazakhstan pavilion reveals the image of a new child emerging like a vision in hyperspace, born beyond the horizon of events. In the epic work, the artist continues the narrative begun in the 1980s, embodying the idea of a new generation freed from ideological confrontations. The year 1986 was a turning point for Kazakhstan, marked by protests and confrontation with the Soviet army, during which Tolepbai took an active part in the struggle for Kazakhstan's independence.
The desire for a new language in art and disillusionment with ideology were prominent themes in art at the end of the Soviet era. During this period, striving to reflect the spirit of the time, Tolepbai creates a pictorial series with apocalyptic subjects reminiscent of the ruins of civilization. The transit state between the two worlds, material and spiritual, is one of the main motifs in the artist's work. This sacral perception of the world is rooted in the artist's childhood, when his mother was a famous healer. Tolepbai recalls how daily queues of suffering people lined up on their doorstep. These encounters had a profound impact on Tolepbai's work and beliefs, strengthening his belief that art can heal the spirit.
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