Catalogue accompanying the London exhibition of new works by one of Georgia's greatest living artists, Levan Lagidze, who returns to London for the first time in 20 years
19 November - 8 December, 2018
Monday to Friday, 10:00am - 6:30pm Saturdays 11:00am - 6:00pm
Katrine Levin Galleries at La Galleria Pall Mall 5b Pall Mall, SW1Y 4UY, London www.katrinelevin.com
L evan Lagidze is one of Georgia’s most significant living artists. Widely exhibited interna tionally, Lagidze’s abstracted and philosophical works are collected by leading museums worldwide, including the Tretyakov Gallery and Museum of Modern Art in Russia, the National Picture Gallery in Georgia, and the Zimmerli Museum in the U.S. Born in 1958 in Tbilisi, Georgia (then part of the Soviet Union), Lagidze graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1981. He served as Chairman of Georgia´s Young Artists’ Union from 1986 to 1989. In the early 1990s he founded the Lagidze Gallery, supporting struggling Georgian artists in the economically turbulent and violent decade following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In the calmer times of 2011, the gallery re-opened under the same name to showcase Levan Lagidze’s own works.
Creating a composition is like “measuring eternity with careful steps”.
Defying categorisation, Lagidze’s art escapes definition except through a metaphor. He says that creating a composition is like “measuring eternity with careful steps”, where a blank canvas demands and promises complete immersion into the subject matter. In this state, concepts such as distance and time dissolve into an all encompassing here and now. As Nana Jorjadze, the Georgian film director, scriptwriter and actress very aptly wrote, “Inside every square of Levan Lagidze’s work is a separate universe. His world, his art, is a great galaxy. Perceiving his paintings depends upon distance: from afar, one sees a large canvas, but as one moves ever closer one’s approach seems endless and one discovers ever more numerous and increasingly minute universes within.”
“Inside every square of Levan Lagidze’s work is a separate universe”.
And yet Lagidze’s abstract works are not at all abstract. The combination of colours and title paints a vivid emotional image. Our eyes might not immediately recognise it but our soul does. If there is such a thing, his paintings are a hyperrealism for the soul. You need only look at “Coming Back”, “Spring. After the Rain” or “Autumn Garden” to be transported to a specific time and place in our memories. For Lagidze, “there is no contemporary or not contemporary art. All artists that have ever immersed themselves in the language of art are in the present”. His art aims to share a common experience; to unite rather than disrupt or shock. Bach Exercises (19 November – 8 December 2018, London), is the first major selling exhibition abroad that Lagidze has agreed to do in 20 years because, besides museum exhibitions, he is known for showing only at his own gallery in Tbilisi. The title, “Bach Exercises”, reflects the paintings’ cadence, where the myriad of tiny universes built up along a grid intermingle in a symphony of rich chromatic notes, creating universal images and narrations through abstraction.
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I don’t want to surprise or to shock you. I only want to share with you.
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“Vineyards”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Palace”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Imereti”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“On the way”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Fields”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm. 2017
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“Autumn gardens”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm. 2018
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“Space”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Seven”. Oil on canvas. 73 x 60 cm. 2017
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“Night”. Oil on canvas. 73 x 60 cm. 2017
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“Composition”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Coming Back”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Blue Space”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Original Field”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Bach Exercises 1”. Oil on canvas. 105 x 130 cm, 2018
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“Bach Exercises 2”. Oil on canvas. 105 x 130 cm, 2018
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“Village In The Mountains”. Oil on canvas. 105 x 130 cm, 2018
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“Winter”. Oil on canvas. 105 x 130 cm, 2018
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“October”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Spring. After The Rain”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Remembrance”. Oil on canvas. 73 x 60 cm. 2017
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“April”. Oil on canvas. 73 x 60 cm, 2017
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“Sunset”. Oil on canvas. 73 x 60 cm, 2017
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“Summertime”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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“Original City”. Oil on canvas. 130 x 105 cm, 2018
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Katrine Levin Galleries showcases and promotes exceptional contemporary artists from places less explored.
Katrine brings extraordinary artists, both emerging and established in their own countries, to the Western art scene. The artists’ cultural backgrounds form a fascinating subcontext and perspective while the contemporary visual language creates a common bond. The works span figurative to abstract, raw emotion to symbolic storytelling. Diverse in style, all of the artists pursue art for art’s sake. The focus is on unique works that elevate the soul through the inner spark that we call talent.
Presented by Katrine Levin Galleries Contact details: Katrine Levin www.katrinelevin.com | katrine@katrinelevin.com | +44 (0) 7789 001 378 Follow us: Instagram: Katrine Levin Galleries Twitter: Katrine Art Speak Facebook: Katrine Levin Galleries
Photographs by Mirian Kiladze and Gia Chkhatarashvili Graphic design by Sandro Chkhaidze Printed by “Favorite Print House”, Tbilisi
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