Aidan Salakhova

Sculptor, painter, photographer, artist, gallerist
Aidan Salakhova (born March 25, 1964) is an Azeri and Russian artist, gallerist and public person. In 1992 she founded the Aidan Gallery in Moscow and ran it till 2012. Salakhova’s works can be found in many private and state collections including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Francois Pinault Foundation, Teutloff Museum and the Boghossian Foundation. In the late 1980s Salakhova became one of the most significant art figures of the new generation in post-Soviet countries. Having worked for over twenty years as both an artist and a gallerist she has been one of the strongest influences on the development of contemporary art in post-Soviet Russia. Salahova’s art won recognition not only in the Russian art community, but also internationally. Aidan is a regular participant of major international art fairs and biennales including the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art (1991, 2011), the 2nd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2007), etc. In her works, Salakhova investigates gender themes, women’s sexuality in the context of Islam, contrasts between the East and the West, matters of prohibition, esotericism, and beauty. She is one of the key artists on a contemporary Russian art scene working in various mediums, such as photography, sculpture, painting, and installations. In 2016 with support from BE OPEN Foundation Aidan Salakhova’s latest exhibition was peresented at the Saatchi Gallery in London. The Revelations, a combination of retrospective and recent works, sent forward a distinct message: women should realize and accept their desires, and assert their right to fulfill them.

Projects