Andakulova Gallery presents ‘Between Fiction and Dreams’, an exhibition where, for the first time, you can view paintings by three young artists from the legendary land of Karakalpakstan. Sometimes regarded as terra incognita, since the middle of the last century, this Central Asian region which is located within Uzbekistan, became familiar thanks to the stupendous efforts of Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky, Ukrainian-born painter, archeologist, and collector, especially of avant-garde art. Savitsky Museum, which is named after him, has the largest collection of Karakalpak art.

Today, a new generation of young artists is working out their belief that the contemporary art of Karakalpakstan is becoming a marker of their region. Bakhtiyar Serekeyev, Timur Shardimetov and Salomat Babajanov who are showing their works at the gallery, are bright representatives of the artistic traditions of Karakalpakstan.

They received their higher education at the K. Behzad National Institute of Arts and Design in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Since the 2010s, they and their generation have been shaping the face of the new national school of painting. They introduced the rebellious spirit of expressionism and uninhibited painting into local art, which earlier was very traditional in terms of themes and intonation. Each of the artists can transform the most personal, the most terrifying, and the most beautiful subjects into powerful energies of color. Sometimes the compositions are dark, sometimes they are bright, and oft times they light up with unexpected shades. This is confessional art at its best and that is part of its attraction.

After all, today, when everything can be printed on a 3D printer, there still exists a primordial longing and craving for such paintings. The artists work within the confines of figurativeness, filling their pieces and approaches with the expressionistic method and a surreal stream of consciousness – which are the techniques of the masters of the London School. The works open up space for unexpected interpretations. Depending on the context, intellectuals see them as heroes of Stanley Kubrick's films, while other viewers plunge headlong into a world full of otherworldly whispers, mysterious symbols, or parodies.

‘Between Fiction and Dreams’ will certainly shake you up and take you out of your comfort zone for a while, as you wander between fantasy and reality. Maybe it will force you to think about the frightening transience of life; perhaps you will suddenly find yourselves close to something invisible and otherworldly, a place far from banal everyday life. Whatever the case, it will become a landmark in your art life.