b. 1959, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Askar Yessenbayev is a sculptor and graphic artist, a key figure among the generation shaping Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet visual art. His visual language draws on sym- bolism, allegory and heightened emotional expression to reflect on the complexities of contemporary life. Yessenbayev graduated from the Alma-Ata Art School in 1978 and the Surikov Institute in Moscow in 1985.