Georgian Multimedia Artist Takes Tbilisi’s Museum of Fine Arts by Storm
Tbilisi’s Museum of Fine Arts on July 20 hosted Georgian multimedia artist Irina Gabiani. The graphic artist and Luxembourg resident showcased several of her two-dimensional works, installations, statues, video-art and photos as part of her ‘Open Universe’ exhibition.
The works were created for this particular exhibition, with the artist’s main source of inspiration being the complexity and diversity of the macro and micro world. Gabiani believes that humanity is part of a unique series of events that are interlinked with one another.
Her works include images of leaves, vases and glasses split into two parts that represent both the physical and cerebral worlds, as well as the thin boundary that separates them.
“I want to congratulate Irina Gabiani on today’s exhibition. I am happy that every new exhibition of hers is connected with new discoveries. Each and every display of Irina’s works enables us to see the creative works of this talented and extraordinary artist from a new angle,“ Lela Tsitsuashvili, the curator of the exhibition, said in her opening speech.
Gabiani moved to the Netherlands in 1993, where she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. Following her graduation, she moved to Luxemburg where she remains today.
“My last exhibition here was at the auditorium of the Georgian National Museum’s video arts department. I’d had a photo and video exhibition here, before. A year earlier, I had an exhibition at the Georgian National Museum. I am an artist and I am Georgian, and therefore, it is of the utmost importance that I exhibit my work in my home country. I try to present something new to my compatriots. I have different directions as I do installations, graphic art, videos, performance, etc. Normally, I work on pieces that resemble the micro and macro worlds. I try and observe how similar rivers and the roots of trees are to human veins,” Gabiani said in and interview with GEORGIA TODAY.
“I really enjoy different pictures. The longer you look at them, the more you see. If you look at pictures from a distance, there are only 2-3 lines. But when I approached it, I saw people, cars, circles, etc,“ German patron Eike Pockrandt told GEORGIA TODAY.
Gabiani holds regular exhibitions and participates in dozens of international video art festivals, art-forums and prestigious international projects.
In 2015, Gabiani’s ‘Part of the Whole’ video was screened in Japan and she had a solo exhibition in Turin, Italy at the Giampiero Biasutti Gallery.
She also held exhibitions and screenings in Paris and Berlin throughout 2015.
The ‘Open Universe’ exhibition continues through to July 30.
Maka Lomadze