340 - Butunay Hagverdiyev, Azerbaijani (B. 1989- )

Butunay Hagverdiyev, Azerbaijani (B. 1989- ) Novruz holiday; Oil on canvas 50 x 80 cm Butunay Hagverdiyev is an Azerbaijani painter and sculptor whose practice explores the relationship between humanity, nature, and the contemporary environment. Born into a family of artists in 1989, he began his artistic journey at the age of fourteen, assisting in the decoration and restoration of an Orthodox church. He studied painting at Azim Azimzadeh Art College before continuing his education at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow. Over the past decade, Hagverdiyev has worked closely with QGallery, presenting a series of acclaimed solo exhibitions while also developing large scale sculptural and public art projects. His works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art Azerbaijan, the Heydar Aliyev Centre, and numerous private collections in Azerbaijan, the United States, Norway, Italy, Germany, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. His exhibition history includes solo exhibitions such as Fleeting Joy (2024), Peninsula Diary (2023), Winds of Absheron (2022), Crossing (2014), and Before, During, After (2011). Internationally, he has participated in the 55th Venice Biennale (Azerbaijan Pavilion), the 10th Beijing International Art Biennale, London Design Biennale, Sofia Art Fair, Tbilisi Art Fair, MAMA – Mother Nature International Art Project, and numerous exhibitions across Italy, Germany, France, Norway, Bahrain, Russia, and Azerbaijan Butunay Hagverdiyev's artistic practice reflects an ongoing dialogue between human presence and the natural world. Inspired by the landscapes of the Absheron Peninsula and shaped by his early experience in religious art and restoration, he explores themes of memory, transformation, and the fragile balance between civilization and nature. His paintings often depict abandoned coastal structures, weathered architecture, and everyday environments, using them as metaphors for the passage of time and the traces left by human activity. Through layered compositions and a restrained visual language, Hagverdiyev examines how landscapes become witnesses to both personal and collective histories. Rather than presenting nature as a passive backdrop, his work invites viewers to reconsider humanity's place within a constantly evolving ecological and cultural landscape, encouraging reflection on coexistence, responsibility, and change. Import Duty Charged on the Hammer Price