Sayan Baigaliyev (b. 1996, Betkuduk, East Kazakhstan) is an artist whose practice originates from easel painting and has gradually expanded into contemporary approaches. He studied at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov and later continued his education at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after Vasily Surikov within the mentorship program of Aidan Salakhova.
Kazakh artist and sculptor Sayan Baigaliyev works in the genres of interior and still life. The main focus of his practice is the space of the studio-house and its transformation. Pierced by openings and defined by sections, rooms and objects, these spaces in his works are compressed into tactile, dense reliefs and unfold through complex optical perspectives. Sayan constructs space through compositional, coloristic and sculptural means, employing optical distortions, light contrasts and dynamic repetitions.
In 2021, he received the Jackson Painting Prize in the category Scenes from Everyday Life (London). He has led painting masterclasses at UNESCO’s International Festival Planet of Art in Astana (2019) and has exhibited internationally, including at the VOLTA Basel (Basel, Switzerland) and the 18th Arte Laguna Prize group exhibition as part of the parallel program of the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), as well as a solo exhibition at Kasteyev Museum of Fine Arts in Almaty in 2024
EDUCATION
2022 Contemporary art workshop by Aidan Salakhova, Moscow State Academic Fine Art Institute named after Surikov, Moscow, RU
2015 College, specialty easel painting at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov, Almaty, KZ
2014 Museum practice in Paris, FR
2011 Residential school at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov, Almaty, KZ
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2024 Delphian Open Call, London, UK
2024 Art Laguna Prize Finalist, Venice, IT
2023 Resident of the 9th season of the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art's Open Studios, Moscow, RU
2021 Winner of the Scenes of Everyday Life award, Jackson's Painting Prize 2021, London, UK
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Almaty Museum of Arts, Kazakhstan
TOVA Foundation, Switzerland
MoCA Collection, Venice
Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia
Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Russia
SOLO SHOWS
2024 MATTE(R)REALITY, State Museum named after A. Kasteyev, Almaty, KZ
2022 ROOMS OF SILENCE, Pygmalion Gallery, Astana, KZ
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026
Union of Artists, Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, Almaty, KZ
2025
QONAQTAR, Almaty Museum of Arts, Almaty, KZ
OZINSHE, Motto Paris, Paris, FR
Dreams of Home, State Museum of Fine Art, Nizhniy-Novgorod, RU
Visibility Borders, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, RU
Images collection of Olga and Sergei Popov, pop-off gallery, Moscow, RU
Exhibition of the MoCA collection with the Treviso Art District, Cantiere Gallery, Trevico, IT
2024
Paper Exhibition, Egin Art Space, Almaty, KZ
Travel Notes, VYKSA Museum, Vyksa, RU
A project at the Akneye gallery as part of the parallel program of the Venice Biennale, Venice, IT.
Arte Laguna Prize, as part of the parallel program of the Venice Biennale, Venice, IT.
Delphian Open Call, Delphian gallery x Unit1gallery in London, UK.
Things and Visions - an exhibition of the collection dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow. RU
Life In Harmony With Nature, Angelinart gallery x Grappe gallery, Seoul, KR
What Are You Afraid Of?, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, RU
2023
The Author Is Unknown. Touch The Main Thing, Museum of Russian Impressionism, Moscow, RU
No One Is An Island, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, RU
UP-AND-COMING, Wertheimer Gallery, Tel Aviv, IL
City and Symbols, Museum named after Kasteev, Almaty, KZ
I'm There. Yaratam, Bizon Gallery, Kazan, Tatarstan, RU
2022
Kazy-karta and Other Stories, YEMAA art space, Atyrau, KZ
Daily Lives, Wetheimer Gallery, Tel Aviv, IL
Chuvash Biennale of Contemporary Art, Cheboksary, Chuvash Republic,RU
QIAF Qatar International Festival, Doha, QA
2021
Exhibition as part of the Almalain group at the G. Aitpayev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine
Art, Bishkek, KG
2020
STAY AT HOME WITH ART International Digital Exhibition in cooperation with the Faculty
Education of Trakia University, Odrin, TR
New Time, New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, RU
2019
Paintings included in the collections Inspired by Degas and New This Week, Saatchi Art, USA
Zamandastar, Gallery of the Union of Artists, Almaty, KZ
Agym, Zhambyl Philharmonic, Almaty, KZ
ART FAIRS
2025
Astana art Fair, QAZART gallery, Astana, KZ
2024
Catalog Art Fair, ARTZIP gallery, Moscow, RU
2023
Cosmoscow Art Fair, ExpoCentre, FORMAT-1 gallery, Moscow, RU
Catalog Art Fair, JART gallery, Moscow, RU
Blazar Young Contemporary Art Fair, Museum of Moscow, Moscow, RU
2022
ASIÁNOW Contemporary Art Fair, Pygmalion Gallery, Paris, FR
VOLTA Basel Contemporary Art Fair, Pygmalion Gallery, Basel, CH
2021
WIN-WIN Contemporary art Market, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, RU