18/04/2024

GLIMPSE IN GALLERY - VAKHO BUGADZE'S EXHIBITION "0,I,II'

Vakho Bugadze’s exhibition entitled “O, I, II” is presented by ATINATI. The concept for the two-stage exhibition (the ATINATI Cultural Center and at No.104 Public School) stems from an old photo of the school found in the artist's archive. The artist worked on the series for over a year, creating over 100 works. This exhibition will showcase the symbolic path of Bugadze’s progression from school pupil to his becoming an artist. Vakho Bugadze (born on April 18, 1964) is a notable representative of Georgian contemporary art. A sculptor by education, he chose painting as his primary medium. From the 1990s onwards, he has taken part in numerous exhibitions held both in Georgia and abroad. The works presented at the exposition were specially created for this exhibition. Host of the exhibition: ATINATI’S Cultural Center

14/04/2024

MIRIAN SHVELIDZE

Artist in focus • Mirian Shvelidze (მირიან შველიძე, 1947-2022) is a key figure in the development of new Georgian scenography. Mirian Shvelidze, a postmodernist artist, played a pivotal role in the creation of The Artist’s Theatre in the 1960s, alongside other Georgian scenographers. This innovative theater emphasized the visual aspect of performances, giving it equal importance to the dramatic action on stage. Shvelidze’s artistic contributions are closely tied to the theater of Robert Sturua. Throughout his life, he served as the main artist of Rustaveli National Theatre, providing scenography for landmark productions such as Richard the Third, King Lear, Hamlet, and Is He a Man a Human?! The Misfortune of Darispan and more. Beyond Rustaveli Theatre, Shvelidze collaborated with directors from Marjanishvili, Gori, Griboedov Russian Drama, and Liberty Theatres, contributing to numerous productions. The conceptual retrospective, which was shown at Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery titled “Miro”, presented three main directions of the artist’s creativity: easel painting, wall painting, and scenography. Host of the exhibition: Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery Curator of the exhibition: Maia Chikvaidze

14/04/2024

GLIMPSE IN GALLERY - TOOTH DECAY IN PARIS

'Tooth Decay in Paris' is Beso Uznadze’s (1968) solo exhibition. In the works of Beso Uznadze, the relationship between existence and absence is manifested in a deep and complex ontology. The artist creates an expansive psychographic map where various states such as trauma, fear, frustration, alienation, or impurity are described. This creation appears to be mediated and approaches the absurd forms of existence. However, it is actually preceded by a number of complex subtexts and emotional backgrounds that define its creative context. Whether addressing migration, identity issues, or acute political and social backgrounds, the main starting point seems to be freeing oneself from concentrated information all at once. He studied documentary photography in Tbilisi School of Photography Sepia, later he continued his education in photojournalism in London. Since 2000 he has worked in England (London). Similarly to his photos Uznadze manages to have an invisible link with his paintings. The artist manages to project his emotional vulnerability to the canvas, which becomes reachable for the viewer when observing his paintings. He often experiments and creates a visual narrative with the synthesis of mixed painting technique and photo media. Beso Uznadze participates in many international exhibitions, art fairs, international projects and competitions. Host of the exhibition: Gallery Artbeat

14/04/2024

EDMOND KALANDADZE

14/04/2024

GLIMPSE IN GALLERY - DIAGONAL 13

Oleg Timchenko’s exhibition entitled “Diagonal 13” is a project that was specially created for the space of Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery. The central theme revolves around the circus. The tragic destinies of dwarves and clowns, concealed behind the grandeur of royal courts of the past or the enchanting circus arena, have inspired artists throughout history, from Velázquez to Fellini. These masterpieces of creative thought encourage us to ponder not only the fates of individuals but also broader themes of humanism and, simultaneously, human cruelty. In this solo exhibition, Oleg Timchenko portrays the circus theme through various stylistic series that already have become familiar in his career. Consequently, the artist’s new collection for this exhibition appears as a “stylistic retrospective.” Oleg Timchenko (1957) is one of the founders and active members of the avant-garde group, The 10th Floor, in the 1980s and early 1990s. During the Perestroika period, the artists united in the group reexamined postmodern art and reflected it in their own context. Alongside their artistic responses to contemporary issues, Oleg Timchenko’s works consistently incorporate themes from history and literature, romantic-symbolic visions, and fairy-tale series infused with humour. Host of the exhibition: National Gallery

14/04/2024

SOLOMON GERSHOV

Artist in focus • Solomon Gershov (სოლომონ გერშოვი, 1906 - 1989) was a Jewish artist from the Soviet Union and a representative of nonconformist art. Solomon Gershov’s art was distinctly unique. Neither social realism nor the artistic styles of the 1960s can be discerned in his work. Gershov appeared as a link in the violently broken chain that connected 1960s nonconformist art with the Russian avant-garde. Solomon Gershov enjoyed a particularly close, friendly and creative relationship with Georgia. The artist spent time residing in Tbilisi during the 1960s.

14/04/2024

EUROPALIA 2023

Europalia dedicated an arts festival to Georgia! The starting point for this edition was the country’s fascinating culture and the art scene. One of the most prominent Georgian artists - Andro Wekua exhibited in the Art and history museum with his work called - “Stranger in Paradise”. He expresses on a large bare stage, the full gamut of melancholic and imaginative dimensions he evokes and depicts with his creations. Thea Djordjadze with an exhibition entitled “the ceiling of a courtyard” at WIELS. Thea Djordjadze creates a new body of work, examining and challenging not only the formal and material qualities of the building, but also its institutional context. With these works, the Georgian-German artist continues to elaborate her eloquent vocabulary of sculptural paintings and painterly sculptures. S.M.A.K. organizes the first museum solo exhibition of Georgian artist Karlo Kacharava (1964 – 1994) outside Georgia. The exhibition extensively features Karlo Kacharava’s paintings, works on paper and illustrated diaries. The artist was only 30 years old when he died, Kacharava left behind volumes of poetry, art criticism, and cultural commentary. The exhibition at M HKA features a generous selection of drawings and paintings by Elene Chantladze, in dialogue with display and support structures conceived by Rooms Studio, at times hosting each other, at others remaining autonomous. The exhibition articulates and celebrates the common ground that comes alive through their work. Music by: Natia Todua – Magnolia

16/02/2024

Glimpse in Gallery - When I was born, I decided to live

#Glimpseingallery - Sophia Cherkezishvili’s (1971) solo exhibition entitled - “When I was born, I decided to live” is on display at ATINATI’S cultural center till 15th March. The majority of the author’s creative works are painted on expansive canvases using vivid, expressive colors. She repeatedly portrays the same character in her art. All of her pieces depict the same image of a woman; but the context, emotions, and expressions vary. In order to achieve this, the author sometimes inscribes the title of the picture directly onto the canvas, occasionally using Georgian script. “Why women? Today I am expressing my emotions through them. What am I creating? I observe, listen, and communicate with those around me. I’m interested in both real and non-existent places.” S. Ch. Sophia Cherkezishvili (born 1971) is a Georgian artist. She graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, and continued her studies in Holland. She is currently engaged in teaching activities. She regularly takes part in both local and international exhibitions. All exhibited works are part of the ATINATI collection. Host of the exhibition ATINATI’S cultural center

16/02/2024

VERA PAGAVA

Artist in focus • Vera Pagava / ვერა ფაღავა (1907,Tbilisi – 1988,Paris) was a Georgian painter, graphic artist, decorator and monumentalist who was an important representative of French art in the 1960s and 1970s. The focus of Pagava’s observation is often directed not so much towards an object, but the transparency of glass and liquid; Exaggerated shadows are also a mixture of light. As a whole, colorful sections create a harmonious rhythm and inner dynamics of the composition. Vera Pagava often placed very few geometric figures of different colors on a picture plane. These abstractions present the author as a poetically-minded, highly sophisticated master. In 1966 she represented France at the 33rd Venice Biennale. In 1986 Vera Pagava created stained glass windows and the interior design of the St. Joseph Church in Dijon. Music performed by Ucnobi and Nato Metonidze based on Ishkhneli sisters’s composition “Ar Daijereb” Special thanks for contribution: AC/VP - Association culturelle Vera Pagava TBC Concept Marjanishvili #75hardchallenge

16/02/2024

MERAB GUGUNASHVILI

Artist in focus • Merab Gugunashvili (მერაბ გუგუნაშვილი, 1990) was born in Tbilisi, Georgia. He studied at Tbilisi State Academy of Art (TSAA), graduated from the faculty of Design with a master’s degree in Artistic Ceramic. He works in different mediums: ceramics, textiles, painting and installation. His main themes include social stereotypes, gender, identity and sexuality. 4710 was the host of the two solo shows of Merab Gugunashvili.

16/02/2024

Glimpse in Gallery - A PORTAL TO THE UNIVERSE

#Glimpseingallery - Ilia Balavadze’s (1968) show entitled - A PORTAL TO THE UNIVERSE showcasing a small fraction of the works in the course of the past five years. Still, this exposition makes it easy to appreciate the diversity of the artist’s creative quests, interests, artistic images, and plots. A universe diverse and colorful, with myriad attitudes, colors, characters, and meanings. The works by artist Ilia Balavadze are dissimilar enough to mislead even a practiced eye to question their ownership by one author. The stories told in series draw on concrete inspirations that remain with the artist until they exhaust themselves. One is followed by another, and then another, and this is how the artist’s numerous series are created, infinite in terms of style, type, or quantity. “Sometimes a theme may arise inside me, and I am unable to match it with a medium. I pause, wait, knowing that, after a while, a new or temporarily forgotten technique will reawaken this theme, and that’s when I resume working.” - Ilia Balavadze Ilia Balavadze graduated from Tbilisi Apolon Kutateladze State Academy of Art in 1994. Until 2015, he was engaged in church painting. Since 2015, he has been working in secular art, having taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions and projects. Host of the exhibition: Novo Gallery

16/02/2024

GLIMPSE IN GALLERY - DIALOGUE

#Glimpseingallery - “Dialogue” is the name of the exhibition that presents the works of Sergo Chakhoiants (1926–2009) and Ushangi Khumarashvili (1948–2023). The exhibition is meant to represent a kind of dialogue between the two artists. Abstract artworks dating from different periods are on display at ATINATI’s cultural center. Viewers will detect certain similarities between the two, despite the differences in their styles of execution and attitudes. Sergo Chakhoiants and Ushangi Khumarashvili both helped to create an era in which abstract art became one of the primary languages of expression. Independently, they each conveyed not only their personal perspectives on the world, but also summed up the essence of the era during which they thrived. All the works presented at the exhibition are preserved in the private collection of ATINATI. Host of the exhibition: ATINATI’S Cultural Center

16/02/2024

Europalia - Georgia: A Story of Encounters

Europalia exhibition - “Georgia: A Story of Encounters”. In the framework of Europalia Georgia, the Art & History Museum will host Georgia: A Story of Encounters, a heritage exhibition focusing on the culture, history and art of Georgia since the Neolithic period. At the crossroads of East and West, traversed by trade routes linked to the Silk Roads, and always the object of ambition of the great powers surrounding it, Georgia has been a place of encounters and exchanges from which it has drawn cultural nourishment. The result is a heritage of unparalleled richness. Wine has been produced in Georgia for at least 8000 years. It accompanies a ritualized art of dining with refined cuisine, an integral part of the country’s heritage. Metalwork – gold and bronze – will also play a central role. From the Bronze Age onwards, Georgian metalworkers produced pieces of unprecedented delicacy and sumptuousness. The myth of the Golden Fleece has its roots in Georgia: the region was known to the Greeks for its wealth in gold. A Christian country since the 4th century, Georgia struggled to assert itself in the midst of the great powers around it. It succeeded brilliantly between the 11th and 13th centuries, the golden age of Georgian unification, which shone economically and culturally throughout the Middle East under the reign of its emblematic sovereign, Queen Tamar. From 4 October 2023, a comprehensive programme, teeming with exhibitions, performances, concerts, films, dance shows, theater pieces and literary encounters, rolled-out across Belgium. Curators: Prof. Bernard Coulie and Prof. Nino Simonishvili, in collaboration with Europalia. 27.10.2023 – 18.02.2024 Music credits: Ensemble Shavnabada • შავნაბადა - ქარი გიმღერის ნანასა/საქართველო ლამაზო

18/12/2023

LEVAN KHARANAULI

Artist in focus - Levan Kharanauli (ლევან ხარანაული, 1963) is a Georgian artist. Levan Kharanauli’s artistic vision is both very personal and national at the same time. He stands firmly on his own soil, heritage, traditions, and reality around him. With simple objects such as tea-cups or children's shoes, he creates icons of his family’s everyday environment and family history. He finds plenty of inspiration in his homeland. Currently he lives and works in Tianeti. Levan Kharanauli graduated from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1986. Since 1983 the artist has been participating in various group and solo exhibitions in both Georgia and abroad. Levan Kharanauli also designs books. The majority of Levan Kharanauli’s works are held in private collections in Georgia and abroad. Music credit: Alexandre Kharanauli

12/12/2023

OTAR CHKHARTISHVILI

Otar Chkhartishvili (ოთარ ჩხარტიშვილი, 1950) is a Georgian artist. His artworks, created with unusual materials or items, taken out of their usual context, undermined the unshakeable principles of social realism and academic dogmas. Otar Chkhartishvili’s quest pointed out the artist’s goal of finding an artistic method that expressed a modern mood rather than ideology. In this way, he remained steady and truthful until the very end. He devoted his life and art to the pursuit of self-renewal. “From the late 1960s to the 1990s, I bore the cross of the anti-Soviet artist, and that’s why my art became a weapon against totalitarianism and atheism…” – wrote the artist in his autobiography. The conceptual series “Four Seasons: My Yard” (1980–1998) is a highlight of his body of work. When the focus shifts from the aesthetic to the concept, an anti-formalist approach appears for the first time in Georgian art. Otar Chkhartishvili’s artworks are kept in museums and private collections, including the Georgian National Museum and the Zimmerli Art Museum (New Jersey, USA). In 2016, two paintings by Otar Chkhartishvili, “On the Roof” and “Sukhumi,” were sold for auction at Sotheby’s. The exhibition Art Inspired by Freedom, which marks the anniversary of Otar Chkhartishvili’s 85th birthday, is divided into two sections: “Four Seasons. My Yard” and “New Realism.” The exhibition featured up to 60 works by the artist, including paintings, collages, assemblages, and objects created between 1967 and 2002, from the Georgian National Museum and the artist’s family collections. Host of the exhibition Georgian National Museum Curated by Alexandra Matsatso Gabunia and co-curated by Nino Asanidze