Aktai Alyirzaev

Aktai was born in 1961 in the small village of Akty in the mountains of Dagestan.n 1977 he entered the Art School in Makhachkala. After graduating he spent 2 years from 1981 – 1983 on military service.

In 1985 he came to St Petersburg and entered the Academy of Fine Arts in 1991 from which he graduated in 1997. He specialises in finely detailed still life in watercolour.

He has had a number of successful exhibitions in Germany as well as Britain and New York, where his work was shown with that of other members of the Magic Realist group. This group of St Peterburg artists has won international acclaim for the quality of its still life work. It carries on a tradition for which the Academy is renowned.

He lives and works in St Petersburg and is married to fellow artist, Alevtina Aleksyeeva.