Low Lows To High Highs at Window Project

Artists: Anano Janashia, Alexey Dubinsky, Andro Semeiko, Giorgi Geladze, Levan Chelidze, Rusudan Khizanishvili, Tato Akhalkatsishvili, Vato Bakradze

Exhibition title: Low Lows To High Highs

Curated by: Domenico de Chirico

Venue: Window Project, Tbilisi, Georgia

Date: August 26 – September 30, 2020

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Window Project, Tbilisi

Artworks presented in the gallery were all created during isolation caused by the pandemic of 2020. Curator Domenico de Chirico worked for the exhibition on distance from Italy.

“What is below is equal to what is above; and what is above is the same as what is below, to perform the wonders of the one thing”: these words, elaborated and handed down by Ermete Trismegisto, a legendary figure of the pre-classical age revered as a master of wisdom, are undoubtedly the key to the so-called hermetic philosophy. They pass on the message that everywhere in the universe, above and below and vice versa, “in heaven and on earth”, both in the macrocosm and in the microcosm, at every level of manifestation, the same laws reign. This expression allows us to limit our research and observations to the field accessible to us, to then transfer by analogy the experiences made to other areas that are not practicable. This immediate and motivating analogical thinking allows man to empathically learn to understand the whole universe.

The hermetic doctrine thus determines a silent revolution in the science of those times and prepares to adopt an empirical approach inspired by the magic-alchemical tradition. “Low lows to high highs” metaphorically follows this precept and is composed as follows: Anano Janashia uses painting as her main means of expression, experimenting with both natural and chemical materials, as well as oil, pigments and ink. Her work process often turns into “birth” by increasing the direct physical contact with the materials and the canvas itself, imprinting her DNA, thus channeling her spiritual and corporal essence on the canvas. Her final intent is to eliminate any limit in relation to the canvas, creating space for the absolute display of instinct and sensitivity.

Aleksey Dubinsky focuses his attention on everyday life, an ordinary life made of small and inconspicuous details: flowers, people, cars, houses and everything that turns out to be simple, sincere, very dear and close. It is a sort of subjective cinema that aims to analyze the functioning of fantasy and its effects on the status quo.

Andro Semeiko explores in his practice ways of constructing stories on multiple levels by composing pictorial compositions that narrate or build a theatrical mise-en-scène. His main activity is painting and it is a process that expands in different disciplines and that allows him to constantly explore new approaches and concepts. When he works, Semeiko projects himself into the surrounding context and historical and architectural references often serve as a basis for his projects. He adopts performative, satirical and meta-imaginary methods used in literature and theater.

Giorgi Geladze, always interested in innovation and experiments in an attempt to synthesize different materials in pragmatic and conceptual contexts, focuses mainly on abstractions, considering each work as a manifestation of momentary originality and consciousness as a result of new perceptions. The observation of details and the revelation of the principles of nature are of the utmost importance for a human being who wishes to energetically reestablish the connection with himself, reestablish the dissonant broken links with nature and then merge with it.

Levan Chelidze paints a diverse and eclectic set of portraits, both of people and of animals, still lifes and landscapes of the Georgian region of Racha. In the era in which almost everyone has technological devices equipped with cameras, Chelidze still adopts a traditional approach and requires its subjects to sit and pose with the aim of masterfully capturing their essential characteristics. Chelidze also plays with perceptions, setting their “real” form on imaginary backgrounds. The subjects of his paintings are generally beautiful, fascinating and regal. His portraits may seem unfinished, and sometimes they really are. This gives his paintings a disarming honesty, making them more emotionally free and less formal.

Rusudan Khizanishvili gives birth to a rather emotional painting in which the colors correspond to her brain waves. Invite viewers to immerse themselves in multi-layered scenarios through her imaginary animals intended as symbolic “handles” between cultures, nations, history and identity. The daily routine is unquestionably immortalized in her paintings: human beings with their desires, fantastic animals, death and rebirth, masks, geometric elements, postcards, photographs, thoughts, ups and downs, among others, are the undisputed protagonists of her paintings.

Tato Akhalkatsishvili is confronted with moments of disconcerting unreality, uncertainty, pain, loneliness, nostalgia, genetically accumulated experiences, search for the transcendent, hope for the mysterious future, unconscious emotions of childhood, changes and empathy: these are indelible components of human life that he transforms into visual metaphors. The landscape, a constant element of his works, acts as a stage to reveal life with all its plots and mysteries.

Vato Bakradze creates by experimenting with different types of media such as painting, objects, collages, videos and photography. Through an intuitive and non-premeditated process, his works focus on experimenting with a variety of materials, in the search for themes close to him, in the observation, in the collection and in the fusion of multiform elements.