Nurgaliy Abdigaliyev

I was born in 1970 in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, into a family of artists where brushes and paints were as common as words. My first oil painting was completed at the age of 13, and since then, painting has become my primary way of thinking and connecting with the world.

I primarily work in oil, drawn to the quiet power of everyday subjects - a riverbank in early autumn, a simple glass jar of wildflowers, a sunlit Mediterranean rooftop, or a still life on a kitchen table. I look for honesty, stillness, and permanence in the fleeting details of ordinary life.

I received my formal training at the N.V. Gogol Art College in Almaty, specializing in easel painting. Later, I completed a residency at the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in St. Petersburg. These academic foundations gave me a deep respect for classical techniques and composition.

My work has been featured in both regional and international exhibitions, including ART-WEEK Central Asia (2014, 2018) and Turan Modern: Contemporary Kazakh Art (Ankara, 2021). In 2023, I held a solo exhibition titled “Silent Shores” at the Karaganda Museum of Fine Arts.