Gurbangeldi Gurbanov was born in 1951 in the Mary Region of Turkmenistan and lives and works in Mary. From 1966 to 1970, he studied painting at the Turkmen State Art College. After completing his education, however, he increasingly turned to graphic art, which became the central direction of his practice. He has been a member of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan since 1977. Gurbanov has developed an individual artistic language in which the boundaries between graphics and painting often become deliberately blurred. Many of his works begin with a concise graphic structure and are enriched with coloured lines, accents and painterly passages. National themes, everyday life and human relationships occupy an important place in his art, while traditional subject matter is frequently interpreted through a modern visual approach. His work also reflects a strong interest in narrative and literature. Characters and themes associated with the writings of Chingiz Aitmatov recur in his art, while other compositions approach everyday life through the imagination of a storyteller. In some works Gurbanov uses pointillist techniques, building images through small, separate touches of colour. Gurbanov received the title of Merited Art Worker of Turkmenistan in 2011 and was named People’s Artist of Turkmenistan in 2021. He continues to exhibit actively. In 2026, the Exhibition Center of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan presented a major solo exhibition dedicated to his 75th anniversary, bringing together graphic and painterly works from different periods of his career.