9x9: The Exhibition of Georgian Artists in Berlin
From November 1 to 10, an all-Georgian exhibition will be taking place in Berlin. The nine talented and promising Georgian artists will present the works that they have created specifically for this exhibition. Co-curated by Lily Fürstenow, the 9x9 Georgians in the Berlin exhibition presents the following artists: Marika Khidirbegishvili; Vakho Kehlashvili (Vaho Helashvili); Maya Gamjashvili; Ia Arsenishvili; Tinatin Kobakhidze; Kakha Chkhataraishvili…
Marika Khidirbegishvili’s street scenes and landscapes continue the tradition of Georgian painting where the social realism influences merge with free imagination and literary motives like Lermontov's boat drifting in lonely waters, hunters in the autumn fields, or town celebration gatherings...
The watercolors and drawings by Vaho Helashvili are executed with calligraphic precision that reveals attention to detail combined with exquisite taste for color. His cityscapes are partly figments of imagination ushering us into the artist's ideal utopian sites; on the other hand, these might serve as blueprints for cities of the future. Being an architect, Vaho uses his profession to give deep context to his artworks. Geometric architectural forms reinterpret the modernist avant-guard tradition in his paintings in an attempt to fuse spirituality and utopian urban visions. What the artist tries to convey are the utopian spaces of formal harmony that never exist.
Highly symbolic, the formal language of Maya Gamjashvili's works analyses subtle changes of mood through unusual color combinations. Thick layers of pigment on the canvas surface abounding in reds, blues, and pastel tones evoke extraordinary spirituality, exhilarated emotional states that are compositionally intensified by fairy-tale-like floating organic forms. Angelic creatures and religious symbolism in Maya Gamjashvili's works are influenced by centuries-old Georgian tradition of Byzantine frescoes and iconographic painting as well as the still vivid tradition of social realism in the choice of female and animal motives.
Ia Arsenishvili's landscapes are picturesque, full of bold greens, energetic blue, and red tones. The artist renders natural environments with meticulous brushwork underlying small details with love and care. The artist's favorite motives are common-looking meadows, woods, tree and flower motives looking at times commonplace yet unusually fresh. The intensity of colors adds particular vigor to the works whereas the forms, organic lines, and curves are rendered with masterful brushwork. Likewise, Ia Arsnishvili's cityscapes of Old Tbilisi, Georgia's capital are immediately recognizable yet highly evocative.
Energy, excitement freeing painting from its academic studio constraints is characteristic of the works by Tinatin Kobakhidze. Bright reds and yellows are opposed here to cold dark grey backgrounds creating vivid contrasts. Female silhouettes are rendered in a poetic yet primitivist manner reminding of the motives from the famous works by world-renowned Georgian painter Pirosmani from the beginning of the 20thcentury.
Kakha Chkhataraishvili'sportraits are full of deep psychological tensions. The lines and silhouettes are compositionally well thought. The portraits have dramatic vigor intensified by the artist's attention to detail and signature style. The flowing figures, refined silhouettes, and faces render a variety of character moods from real-life protagonists as well as mythological characters from Georgian historical and literary epos.
Exquisite colors, sublime palette and a wide diversity of motives from portraiture to city views and landscapes that are rendered with equally high merit are characteristic for Maia Samchkuashvili'soeuvre. Her ornamental treatment of portraits renders the works exceptional beauty. The fabric of the canvasses is complex and impressive. The colors are carefully matched creating inner harmony and tranquility. Her city views are timeless yet immediately recognizable for anyone who's acquainted with Georgian countryside with its typical rural charms and small-town architecture.
The exhibition of Georgian artists in Berlin will be open for the public through November 10.