“Shadows of Hope”

Aspan Gallery is happy to present Gulnur Mukazhanova’s second solo show at the gallery entitled “Shadows of Hope” opening on Wednesday 24 July.

Gulnur Mukazhanova is Berlin-based multimedia Kazakhstani artist. For many years Mukazhanova has been working with handmade felt to create complex compositions that combine colour, texture and space. In her abstractions, the direction of application of wool and silk fibres resembles brushstrokes, enriching the works with even greater expressive power.

“Shadows of Hope” exhibition will feature Mukazhanova’s largest handmade felt work, created during her residency at the converted textile factory Mill6CHAT art space in Hong Kong in 2023. This monumental work, measuring more than 16 meters long, will be shown in Kazakhstan for the first time. For the exhibition at the gallery, Gulnur created a continuation of her 16-meter felt work. The new installation, covering the perimeter of the gallery space, will be more than 41 meters in length.

Mukazhanova’s work stands out for its deep colours and mesmerizing colour transitions, but her works also reflect an element of protest – through her work the artist expresses her disagreement with the established norms. For Gulnur, the process of felting itself, a painstaking and physically exhausting work, has become a kind of ritual of liberation or purification, through which she seeks to comprehend the historical traumas of her people.

About the artist

Gulnur Mukazhanova was born in 1984 in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Berlin. Among the artist’s recent notable exhibitions are Eluding Capture at Mass MOCA in Massachusetts (2024), Clouds, Power and Ornament – Roving Central Asia at CHAT in Hong Kong (2023), Racing the Galaxy, Astana Art Show in Astana (2019), Bread & Roses at Momentum in Berlin (2018), Post Nomadic Mind at the Wapping Project in London (2018), the 4th International Biennale for Young Art in Moscow (2014) and the Central Asia Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007).

Gulnur Mukazhanova “Shadows of Hope: Yesterday’s Past, Today’s Present”, 2023. Installation view: Mill6CHAT, Hong Kong, photo: property of Mill6CHAT

Exhibition dates: 24 July — 22 September 2024

Wednesday 24 July | 18:00 — Exhibition opening

Opening hours:

Tuesday — Saturday: 11 am - 7 pm

Sunday: 12 pm - 6 pm

Adress: Villa Boutiques & Restaurants, 140 A/3 Al Farabi, lower ground floor. Free entrance.