Minor Attractions
Presented artist Beso Uznadze
Gallery Artbeat is pleased to present Beso Uznadze’s recent paintings at Minor Attractions.
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.
Reaching an abstract form in Uznadze's work can be considered a process of abstracting a multi- layered identity. The artist's self-expression occurs through spontaneous artistic action, seemingly developing a ritualistic painting process. The paint is splashed directly onto the canvas spread out on the floor, creating a "colorful explosion." His paintings rely on two main components: line and color. The pictorial fabric forms a labyrinth with chaotic, zigzag lines, fast action, and impulsive outlines. It's as if his creation must first resemble chaos and allow itself to self-destruct to subsequently renew itself. Perhaps, during this moment, the sand images of New Mexico's totems, erected by the local population at sunrise and ritually destroyed at sunset, may flash before our eyes.
Beso Uznadze's methodology is closely related to the distinctive effect of the photo medium, involving the acquisition of multi-layered semi-transparent images. Specifically, this effect is achieved by superimposing two different images. The artist presently employs a similar approach, creating multi-layered abstractions with overlapping canvases. The structure of the abstract works displayed at the exhibition can also be interpreted as a self-portrait of the artist, featuring signs of a fragmented, disjointed, and multi-perspective vision. For him, the monolithic structure loses its foundation and opens up to dynamic and changing situations. This is perhaps best illustrated by the ever-changing nature of modern human identity and the zone of existence, which is no longer an immutable, fixed structure but a changing, open-ended reality.
Selected solo and group exhibitions:
2024 - Links კავშირები, Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York, USA; 2023 - Tooth Decay in Paris, Artbeat, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2023 - Self-Portrait by the Mirror, Georgian National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2021 - Rites of Passage, Oxygen Biennial, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2019 - A group exhibition, Tbilisi's Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2018 - Artisterium, Tbilisi History Museum Karvasla, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2018 - Inside Out, Artbeat, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2018 - Picture Languages: photographic art from Georgia, Frankfurt, Germany; 2018 - A group show Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe, Artbeat, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2017 - Project ArtBeat New Space Opening, Artbeat, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2017 - Beijing International Art Biennale, Beijing, China; 2016 - KONTAKTPHOTOS, Black & White Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2015 - Un Homme, Chapitre III, Galerie Hors-Champs, Paris, France; 2014 - Artisterium, GNM, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2011 - Tbilisi photo Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2011 - Les Rencontres De La Photographie, Arles 2011 FranceGallery 9, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2010 - Imagine the Future, Artisterium, GNM, Tbilisi History Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2009 - The International Festival of Photography, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy; 2008 - Taylor-Wessing Photographic Competition, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; 2004 - Schweppes Photographic Competition, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK.