A contemporary Kazakhstani photographer and artist, member of the Union of Photographers of Russia (since 1994). His works include photography, video, performance, and installation. Key methods in A. Malgazhdarov’s practice include photo documentation, materiality, fragmentation, and reproduction. Key themes are memory, the world of objects, simulacra, private life, and digital technology.
A. Malgazhdarov studied at the Kemerovo State Institute of Culture (KemGIK) (Department of Film, Photography, and Video Art, 1992–1997). He received the third prize from the international jury at the SCCA Video Art Festival "Inventory" (Almaty, 2002). He currently lives and works in Moscow.
The artist explores the boundary between the material and its visual reproduction. He reflects on the symbolic value of an artwork as a trace of reality, documenting the process of washing and hanging photographs of wet rags on a line as if they were actual fabric ("Rags", 1999). A. Malgazhdarov continues to observe the material world and question the interaction between real and digital spaces, between humans, nature, and technology ("Sunspot", in collaboration with Svetlana Sosnovskaya and Nikita Vinyar, 2000). His photographs once again focus on everyday life, framing people within urban architecture ("Black Man in Blue Town", 2014) or natural landscapes ("Bassa Marea", 2014).
A. Malgazhdarov’s works were exhibited in Kazakhstan and abroad: "ASSOPHOTO" (Berlin, 1986); "Equilibrium" ("Blues Café" Art Club, Karaganda, 1997); the 1st Annual Exhibition of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art "Self-Identification: Futurological Forecasts" ("Moskva" Shop, Almaty, 1998); "Parade of Galleries" (A. Kasteyev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, 1999); "Closed City" Festival (Yerevan, 1999); "Eurasian Zone" ("Manege" Exhibition Hall, Moscow, 1999); "4000 km or Do You Really Need It?" (Langele, Austria, 2001); "Off the Silk Road: No Mad’s Land" (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2002); "Re-Orientation" (ACC Gallery, Weimar, 2002); "Trans-forma" (Centre for Contemporary Art, Geneva, 2002); and "Tamerlane Syndrome: Art and Conflicts in Central Asia" (Palazzo dei Sette, Orvieto, 2005).
Information about A. Malgazhdarov is stored in the Documentation project collection — the archive of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art – Almaty (SCCA).
Photograph from Alexander Malgazhdarov’s Facebook Page