Najmidin Azezi

This is a portrait of my mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease the last few years of her life. It was very difficult to watch the person we knew disappear right in front of our very eyes and not be able to do anything to stop it. Chances are we all know someone who has had the misfortune of dealing with this unforgiving disease. This painting depicts the darkness that envelops a loved one when they are take by Alzheimer's. There is a sense of involuntary distance between the subject and the viewer.

Subject: Mother

Mother 2021 Oil on canvas, 55” x 39”

Najmidin Azezi graduated from Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts in 1981, after which he completed a Master's program in oil painting at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing. Despite the changes in colour, composition, and expression over the years, the theme of Azezi's paintings has always maintained a constant: the spiritual, emotional and physical world of people in their challenging states. Azezi's work, through his bold, broad and simple paint strokes, reflects the turmoil and helplessness in marginalized and vulnerable groups in society, while desperately holding on to the beauty, strength, endurance, and harmony in human nature.

Azezi's work has been seen at the National Art Exhibition (Beijing), Asian Art Festival (Hong Kong), the China Oil Painting Excellence Exhibition (Beijing), the first and second Xinjiang International Biennale, as well as the ninth Guangzhou Biennale. In 2001, together with his wife, Azezi held a joint exhibition at the National Museum of China. His works have entered the permanent collections of the National Museum of China and the Xinjiang Art Museum. Azezi has been featured on OMNI TV Canada, Oriental Horizon programme of China Central Television, Hong Kong Asia Television, and Art Starry Sky, among other art-related programs. Azezi's works have also been included in magazines such as Contemporary Chinese Oil Painting, and Chinese Art. As an Uyghur-Canadian artist, Azezi has been represented by galleries in both China and Canada. His works have been extensively collected in the United States, Canada, and China.