exhibit
Curation & Design
State of Being
Second Invitational Sculpture Exhibition curated by Gülnar Babayeva
December 7 2024 – January 26 2025
This invitational exhibition’s purpose is to feature living Hudson Valley sculptors working in various media and scale, to highlight their works, and to inspire curiosity for three-dimensional fine art within our community. Furthermore, it aims to provide an inclusive gallery space & visibility for local and regional artists in different stages of their artistic careers, who create abstract, representational, figurative sculptural works of art. Exhibition Location: Spotlight & Front Galleries at the Arts Society of Kingston, NY
*a human being is only breath and shadow*
Exploring the interpretations of the word BEING as a concept through a selection of sculptural works of art by Hudson Valley sculptors / artists.
featured artists
Isaac Abrams
Gülnar Babayeva
Elissa Bromberg
Jackie Fischer
Karen Jaimes
Sophi Kravitz
Alex Kveton
Benedicte & Jerome Leclere
Iain Machell
Erika Kari McCarthy
Shirley Parker-Benjamin
Francisco Rivera
Yvonne Rojas-Cowan
Aleksandra Scepanovic
Stefan Tur
On display are sculptures by Hudson Valley based sculptors & artist who work within the third dimension.
curated
sculpture exhibition
Explorative Inquiry
The exhibition explores the interpretations of the word BEING as a concept through three dimensional sculptural works of art by Hudson Valley sculptors; curated by Gülnar Babayeva. How do you understand the concept of BEING ? Is it a state of mind or a state of existence ? Is it a verb ? Or is it a noun ? What does it mean to be a human being? Is the Universe an all encapsulating self-aware being ? Does being in a body make you a sentient by default? Are you being yourself or masking to fit in with the rest? Does being born as human, turns one into a mindless marionette of existence? Do you care for another earthly being ? Is being human a gift or a punishment from gods? Can artificial intelligence become a being if it starts experiencing feelings? Are you capable of carrying the burden of being empathic and acutely self-aware simultaneously? Are mountains, oceans, & trees being the indefinite custodians of the earth reality ? Can Earth be a conscious being with a mind of her own ? These questions are open ended, and the exhibition attempts to contemplate answers to some of them through the curated selection of sculptural works.
gulnarbabayeva.com
GÜLNAR BABAYEVA is a figurative sculptor & designer at her studio @caspianmuse, based in the Hudson Valley, NY. Originally from Azerbaijan, she moved to New York State in 2010 to study art and design thanks to the generosity of a local family. Babayeva has been sculpting the human form since 2012, and started her explorations in ceramic vessel design in 2020. Babayeva’s multidisciplinary nature as a creative explores the versatility of her chosen medium from the perspectives of designer and sculptor identities interchangeably.
Gülnar Babayeva brings representation as a sculptor and designer to the local arts communities with her active participation as an exhibiting artist, volunteer, board director, instructor and curator.
List of Exhibitions Babayeva created & designed:
Revival – Solo Sculpture Exhibition 2021
The Other Dimension – Curatorial Exhibition 2022
From Earth to Vessel – Duo Vessel Exhibition 2024
Figurative Sculpture Renaissance – Solo Exhibition 2024
State of Being – Curatorial Exhibition 2024
In 2022 Babayeva was invited to curate and design her first invitational sculpture exhibition The OTHER Dimension, highlighting the works, primarily figurative & representational, by seven sculptors from the region. Babayeva was awarded the 2022 NYSCA Individual Artist Grant to pursue her artistic vision & mission of cultivating figurative sculpture locally. She is also an associate member of the National Sculpture Society. Sculptures from her 2021 debut exhibition Revival have been actively exhibited and acquired for private collections. Babayeva offers collaboration opportunities locally and remotely at Caspian Müse Studio.
gulnarbabayeva.com | caspianmuse.com
about
meet the curator
brief bio
Gülnar Babayeva
Artist Photo: courtesy of Madeline Krause
GÜLNAR BABAYEVA is a figurative sculptor & designer at her studio @caspianmuse , based in the Hudson Valley, NY. Originally from Azerbaijan, she moved to New York’s Hudson Valley in 2010. Babayeva was awarded the 2022 NYSCA Individual Artist Grant to pursue her artistic vision & mission of cultivating figurative sculpture locally. Sculptures from her 2021 debut exhibition Revival have been actively exhibited and acquired for private collections. She is an associate member of the National Sculpture Society and an active member of local art organizations like WAAM, ASK Gallery Committee [ Jan 2021-Jan 2022, Apr 2023- Apr 2024] & an elected Director to the ASK Board of Directors. Gülnar Babayeva offers collaboration opportunities that include creative consulting, figurative sculpture & ceramic vessel workshops, sculpture commissions and design services at Caspian Müse Studio.
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mission
Figurative
Sculpture Fund
The Figurative Sculpture Fund helps me continue a dedicated studio practice that cultivates contemporary figurative sculpture in the Hudson Valley, NY.
