Absorb, Adhere, Advance: Niyaz Najafov, Gazelli Art House

Azerbaijani artist Niyaz Najafov, a former soldier, taught himself to translate anguish into art. He creates embryonic figures in oil paints; deformed and discoloured, they are expressionist, they smack of Francis Bacon, presenting characters that disturb and tickle in equal measure.

Najafov is at the vanguard of a generation of artists who have flourished on the burgeoning Azeri art scene, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. This scene is championed by Gazelli Art House, an institution that provides an international platform for voices that would otherwise go unheard.

A year ago, Najafov began collecting paper and cardboard he found on the street, and adorned these discarded materials with flowers. He stuck these on various corners of streets in Paris, where he lives and works. The birthplace of graffiti, some parts of the French capital positively seethe with street art. But Najafov's work is different. He interprets this act as ‘social art’ as opposed to street art – the flowers are available for people walking past to absorb, 'pick' them from the wall. These three acts contextualise his new exhibition.

Expect his trademark, muddy depictions of humanity, as well as a wall dedicated Najafov’s experimental project – displaying more than 100 found posters and disposed cards with depictions of flowers in oil.

Najafov's work is refreshingly direct, in a contemporary art scene currently defined by coldness and distance.