A contemporary Kazakhstani artist, curator of the "Asia-Art" Gallery (since 1996), co-founder of the art group "Zero Level" (late 1990s), and the contemporary art gallery "Look Gallery" (with Lidia Blinova, until 2001). His works include painting, graphic art, installations, objects, performance, video art, and photography. Key methods in R. Khalfin’s practice include abstractionism, symbolism, metaphor, provocation, and experimentation. Key themes are corporeality, historical memory, cultural identity, nomadism, emptiness, and fullness.
R. Khalfin graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute (State Academy, MARKHI) (1967–1972), after which he studied under Gennady Zubkov. He participated in urban environment design (1972–1983) — for example, in a series of five- to nine-story residential buildings in large-panel formwork (Almaty, 1980–1981) — and continued his work as an artist and curator. During his lifetime, a circle of students and followers formed around him, and in 2021, the artist’s heir, Ruslan Khalfin, founded the "Rustam Khalfin Heritage Foundation" and the digital archive "Look Gallery".
In his paintings, R. Khalfin explored memory, corporeality, and tactile experience through abstraction ("Nude from the Back", 1986; "In Honor of the Rider. The Ideal Saddle", 1997–1998). He sought visual images of abstract concepts ("The Noise of Time", 1993–1996), offered his artistic interpretation of well-known works of the past ("Variation from 'Las Meninas'", 1992–1999; "In Honor of Cézanne", 1990s), problematized orientalism, attempted to restore historical memory ("Northern Barbarians. Part 2. Love Races", 2000), and addressed the disunity of people and, in particular, the Almaty art community ("Clay Project. Zero Level", 1999). An important key to understanding the symbolic meaning of R. Khalfin’s works is his concept of "Pulota" — the unity of emptiness and fullness ("Palm and Pulota", 1994).
R. Khalfin’s artworks were exhibited in Kazakhstan and abroad: "The Exhibition of Four" (apartment, Almaty, 1981); "Rustam Khalfin. Painting" (former studio of T. N. Glebova, St. Petersburg, 1985); "Human Rights: Terra Incognita" (Business Club of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, 1997); "Off the Silk Road: No Mad’s Land" (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2002); "Nordic Nomads" (Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, 2003); the 51st Venice Biennale (Venice, 2005); "Rustam Khalfin Retrospective: Love Races" (White Space Gallery, London, 2007); "Eurasian Utopia" (NCCA, Moscow, 2016).
Information about R. Khalfin is stored in the Documentation project collection — the archive of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art – Almaty (SCCA).
Photograph provided by Rustam Khalfin Heritage Foundation