Contemporary Istanbul 2015

Presented artists: Maka Batiashvili, Irakli Bugiani, David Meskhi

The selection of works gathers three Georgian-born artists belonging to different art scenes of the world. Painting, photography and mixed media works represent Georgian contemporary art into three different directions, while the represented practices stem from the shared post-Soviet history of the republic, reflecting upon the experience of the turbulent times.


Maka Batiashvili (B. 1975, Tbilisi, Georgia)

Batiashvili accomplished her Bachelor degree in Fine Art at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1997 and since then, she lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Batiashvili works in graphical drawing, oil painting, photography and film. Her exuberant work depicts scenes from the everyday. Through the subject matter, Batiashvili poses questions around the existential issues of life and death. In her work the everyday life resembles a playground, where various scenes are being performed. Ostensibly unmediated figures and the intense color scheme in Batiashvili's work share stylistic tendencies with the early modernist painting traditions of Georgia and Europe. Batiashvili's practice is an interesting cross between the traditional and the contemporary painting, developing the well-established tradition of painting popular in the republic of Georgia.

Selected solo and group exhibitions:
2015 - Playground, TBC Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia; Exhibition of Georgian Painters, Contemporary Art Center, Tel Aviv, Israel; 2013 - Untitled, Arundel Gallery, Arundel, UK; 2012 - Untitled, Industrial Gallery, Ostrava, the Czech Republic; 2011 - Black and White, Tbilisi History Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2008 - OFF EUROPA Festival, Leipzig, Germany; Photography Exhibition, National Museum, Atlanta, USA.


Irakli Bugiani (B. 1980, Tbilisi, Georgia)

Bugiani accomplished his studies in Fine Art at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 2001. Since then he studied at Ecole des Beux Arts in Rouen, France, at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, Germany and received MA in Art History at the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Germany in 2010.

Bugiani works in painting and collage. His works depict interiors and exteriors of architecture empty of human presence. The abstract imagery composed with rough strokes of oil on canvas combined with application, leave an impression of the yet unfinished work in process. The impressionistic landscapes, seascapes and washed out portraits compose the exploration into the fictional and the historical facts of one's memory. The combination of the subject matter and the working style evoke an unsettling ambiguity.
Irakli Bugiani lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Selected solo and group exhibitions:
2015- Ausstellungseröffnung: 191°S, WELTKUNSTZIMMER, Dusseldorf, Germany; Kunstpunkte 2015, Dusseldorf, Germany; 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.


David Meskhi (B. 1979, Tbilisi, Georgia)

After gaining a Master’s Degree in Hydro ecology, Meskhi decided to change his profession entirely and turned to art. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography at Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

Most of Meskhi’s works show concealed layers of adolescent. The artist gets his inspiration from kids as a reminiscent of himself and he looks into their own forms of expression. His photographs tell us much about him - as an individual and as a photographer. Visually the artworks begin their existence as a set of photographic images defying time. Meskhi captures young people whose bodies defy the law of gravitation.

The photographic set, titled Satellites at night looks at a journey through the dusty and colorful prisms of exploration. It portrays surfing on a board in a specific context, delving into the sport's relation with art, photography, philosophy and poetry.

The specific light box installation makes the viewer wonder through the objects and make their way out.

Photo chronicles document discoveries made by looking further a field, such as: inspiring places, reflections, images, or jet new concepts with the idea of "miraculous dwells in still".
David Meskhi lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Selected solo and group exhibitions:
2015 - (Solo) Satellites at Night, Moving Gallery by Project ArtBeat, Tbilisi, Georgia; 2014 - Photo Visa - VI International Festival of Photography, Krasnodar, Russia; 2013 Photo Festival of Arles, La Nuit de l’Année, Arles, France ; 2012 Ich Ist Ein Anderer, Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany ; 2011 Sunny Side Up, Margate Photo Festival, UK; 2011 - (Solo) Eternal Distance, Anika Handelt Galeria, Vienna, Austria; 2011 - (Solo) Higher, Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin, Germany; 2011 - IMAGO, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany ; 2011 - Face to Face, Pobeda Gallery, Moscow, Russia; 2010 Photo Festival of Arles, La Nuit de l’Année, Arles, France.