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Irakli Bugiani - Nowhere to Run

21 December, 2018 - 17 February, 2019

Project ArtBeat, 14, Pavle Ingorokva str., Tbilisi, Georgia

Project ArtBeat and TBC Status are pleased to present Irakli Bugiani’s solo exhibition of the artist’s recent works, Nowhere to Run. 

"Nowhere to Run shows a collection of colors on canvas. Painted impressions, lights and shades of the outside world". 

Irakli Bugiani mainly works in painting. He also refers to the techniques of collage. For the pictures he uses old and new photos, texts about the events happening around him for example in social, scientific, political situations. The process itself and its visibility on the canvas is very important for the artist. His works depict interiors and exteriors of architecture empty of human presence. The abstract imagery composed with rough strokes of oil on canvas leave an impression of the yet unfinished work in process. The artist deliberately leaves fragments of working process on the canvas as if the artworks are endless. The impressionistic 'unfinished' seascapes, washed out portraits and collages of fragmented imagery compose the exploration into the boundaries of fiction and historical fact of one's memory. 

Selected solo and group exhibitions:
2016-The Georgian National Museum Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery- “To see a World in a Grain of Sand” Tbilisi, Georgia; 2015 - Heritage, RICHMIX Arts Centre, London, UK; 2014 -Crossing the boundaries, AT388, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2013 - Kunstpreis Junger Westen 2013, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, Germany; 2012 - Post Coitum Omne Animal Triste Est, Damenundherren e.V., Dusseldorf, Germany; 2011 - Zwischen Gestern und Morgen, Gallery 10, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Nowhere to Run 
There is just no passing by that Gray wall he is standing in front of. Structures owned by one stand in the way of another. An inner voice rises and sees the shadow of its incompatibility in the mirror. "This artist has painted with uncouth brush strokes" - he thinks, as he crosses out the sentence which he replaces with a feeling of strangeness. The outlaw blues sits as tight as a suit that is much too small and stretches along the sleeves. A view from the outside is trapped in everyday life, while others scanning the hostile environment for cracks are smooth and round. Freedom turns away once no more wind penetrates through the cracks. A sound scape suffocated by bright light. "Where do I belong?" mumbles the stain on the door. This could not grow like this in other realities. 

Nowhere to Run 
Er steht vor der grauen Wand, hier ist kein Vorbeikommen. Menschen besitzen Strukturen, die anderen im Weg stehen. Eine innere Stimme erhebt sich und sieht im Spiegel den Schatten ihrer Unvereinbarkeit. "Dieser Künstler hat mit ungehobelten Pinselstrichen gemalt" - denkt er, während er den Satz durchstreicht und durch das Gefühl von Fremdheit ersetzt. Der outlaw blues sitzt so eng, wie ein zu kleiner Anzug der an den Armen zieht. Ein Blick von außen ist gefangen im Alltag, während andere glatt und rund die feindliche Umgebung nach Rissen abtasten. Als kein Wind mehr durch die Ritzen dringt, dreht sich die Freiheit um. Eine Geräuschkulisse erstickt durch grelles Licht. "Wo gehöre ich hin?" murmelt der Fleck in der Tür. In anderen Realitäten könnte das so nicht wachsen. 

Nowhere to Run zeigt eine Sammlung von Farbe auf Leinwand. Gemalte Eindrücke, Lichter und Schatten der Außenwelt. 

Text by Moritz Kotzerke
Translated in English by Julian Dzeyk