Aissulu Kadyrzhanova

Aissulu Kadyrzhanova is a Philadelphia-based artist. Born in 1978 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Kadyrzhanova first attended Almaty Art College, where she received her initial formal training in painting. She then studied at the renowned Surikov Institute of the Arts in Moscow, Russia, under the instruction of a prominent Russian painter Pavel Nikonov, whose work continues traditions of the Russian avant-garde movement “Society of Easel-Painters.” Kadyrzhanova continued her studies in the United States by graduating from the MFA Program in Painting at Tyler School of Art of Temple University. The unique blend of experiences and education has made Kadyrzhanova a painter with an original point of view. In her work she combines strong realist traditions of the Russian school of painting together with more conceptual and experimental approach to painting in the Western art world. In addition, her work is enhanced by the Kazakh school of painting, which is known for its monumentality of form and symbolism.