NADA Willa Warsaw

Presented Artists: David Apakidze and Tamar Botchorishvili

For NADA Villa Warsaw 2025 Gallery Artbeat is pleased to present new works by Tamar Botchorishvili and David Apakidze, two Georgian artists whose practices engage with the politics of identity, representation, and cultural symbolism.

In this series, David Apakidze presents stained glass works depicting a variety of faces inspired by the stylistic language of late medieval Georgian Orthodox wall paintings, often referred to as Georgian naive Orthodox art. Drawing from this tradition, Apakidze reinterprets its visual codes to construct a contemporary queer iconography. Through these works, Apakidze seeks to integrate personal identity into the Orthodox aesthetic framework, bridging a historical cultural form with contemporary expressions of selfhood and belonging.

Tamar Botchorishvili’s latest figurative works explore the complexity of the human body, focusing on the nude body as a form of expression and empowerment. Her compositions are symbolic rather than narrative, creating a collective image that invites viewers to reflect on how they perceive themselves and others. A recurring symbol in Botchorishvili's work is the 'breast,' representing both sexuality and nurturing. It becomes a metaphor for freedom, challenging societal expectations surrounding the body and sexuality. Through this series, she aims to dismantle cultural stigmas that limit women’s participation in social and political spheres.

Tamar Botchorishvili’s (b. in 1980, Kutaisi) artworks represent an attempt of self-reflexion and self-understanding. Graphic drawings and objects created by combination of different materials and techniques tell the story of past experiences, drama and unexpected future.
Artworks include small-sized sculptures and drawings. On the one hand, these artworks represent cheerfulness and a playful (toy like) aesthetics but on the other hand, they express topics like: family and society, body and sexuality, death and subconscious.

The works take form from personal and collective experiences and are changing according to the meaning of different narratives. They speak about fundamental issues that dominate on all levels of society and transform dramatic contexts into cheerful playing forms.

David Apakidze (b. in 1998, Poti) is a visual artist, curator, art historian, co-founder of the Fungus Project and Fungus Gallery, queer art initiatives based in the Caucasus. He studied Art History at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, focusing on medieval Orthodox art—an influence that continues to shape his practice.

His practice spans sculpture, embroidery, printmaking, and stained glass, reinterpreting Georgian Orthodox iconography through a queer lens. His research-based practice explores identity, traditions, and queerness.

Apakidze has participated in residencies and exhibitions both locally and internationally, including Lerblabor (Berlin, 2021), Open Out Festival (Tromsø, 2023), Gallery Artbeat (Tbilisi, 2024), Gallery Zacheta (Warsaw, 2024), and MeetFactory (Prague, 2025).