Street Art in Georgia
Street art, sometimes known as graffiti, has a long and interesting history and it's still going strong all over the world with thousands of graffiti artists or writers as they prefer to call themselves in operation.
Street art goes back to ancient Rome, but urban graffiti, which most people have seen and know about it, is painting by spraycans on the walls, which came from New York City in the late 1960s largely subway trains. For Georgia it’s a new step, but fortunately there are a lot of talented artists we know little about.
A few years ago, colorful graffiti appeared in the streets of Tbilisi and became popular and famous immediately and during this time artists such as Dc.Love, Gagosh, Tamoonz and others were popular.
Street artist Tamuna Tsakhnakia,with her pseudonym “Tamoonz” illustrates books, makes animations for games and does a lot of interesting things. Her paintings also decorate our city and have been seen in London too.
“One British art agent got interested in paintings that I shared on social media and invited me to take part in a group exhibition in London where my painting was named the Critics’ Choice” says Tamoonz.
She also painted the decorative pianos which were placed in public spots in Batumi.
“I don’t have specific plans. I don’t know what tomorrow may bring. The only thing I am certain about is that I have to do a lot in the future. If you want to achieve success, you have to work hard and put a lot of effort into it. You should not rest on your laurels and you should always strive to develop further and to do your best,“ added Tamoonz.
“I don’t think that this kind of art is a social protest. These artworks are messages to make people awaken. That’s all. This kind of art is very important for Georgian people and its cultural life” says Gagosh, an artist.
“Georgian people need positives and I always try to send positive messages to them,” adds Dc. Love.
As artists say it’s a way to express themselves creatively in society although not all of society views it that way.
Nina Ioseliani