An exhibition by Azerbaijani artist Orkhan Mammadov has opened in New York.
The display was organized by the digital art company Blackdove in one of the leading exhibition halls of the city.
In the works displayed at the exhibition called Revival of Aesthetics, Mammadov created a unity of heritage and modernity by combining sketches of Azerbaijani carpets, a symbol of our Azerbaijan's cultural heritage, with the latest technological algorithm of our time - artificial intelligence. Invited by prominent collectors from New York and around the world, the show features artist's nine works.
In an interview with Report, Mammadov spoke about the known and unknown aspects of the new art form he represents: "We call this kind of art new media art. It is a kind of traditional art, using unique technologies. The field I'm working on in contemporary media art is artificial intelligence, and it is time-bound artwork. Codes or algorithms are used here.
"The works depicted were created by artificial intelligence and used on 150,000 Azerbaijani carpets. After these carpets were collected from museums worldwide, they were analyzed by artificial intelligence, and common values were revealed. Then I created new alternatives based on them."
The artist said that this new art form had gained popularity since 2020.
According to him, in order to collect the carpets in his works, first of all, all museums in the world where Azerbaijani carpets are kept were contacted: "At the exhibition in 2019, to which I was invited by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation to represent Azerbaijan, with the help of my curator Emin Mammadov, we contacted all the museums in the world where Azerbaijani carpets are kept and obtained sketches of all of them.
"We worked on those carpets and turned them into artificial intelligence. I must also say that not only Azerbaijani carpets but also the rich culture of the East are reflected in the historical heritage. My works combine the eastern culture of common geography (Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Morocco), including Azerbaijan."
Stating that the exhibition opened in New York is the first stage of a 10-stage project, the artist said that not only the carpet but also other national values of Azerbaijan are reflected in the exhibited works: "The aesthetic symbols displayed here include paintings on the rocks of Gobustan, Islamic patterns on carpets and monuments, miniatures of Azerbaijani literature and music."