Skip to main content

Giga Datuashvili 1976-2000: exhibition





The National Gallery in Tbilisi, Georgia, is holding a brief exhibition of Georgian artist, Giga Datuashvili, from 22-28 February 2016. The exhibition, Giga Datuashvili: 1976-2000, at the Georgian National Museum Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery, commemorates the 40th anniverary of his birth. It also celebrates the brief 24 years of his life.

The works on display were created in the late 1990s. He commenced painting at an earl age, and also performed at the Children’s Music Theatre. Datuashvili studied in the Department of Painting Restoration at the Tbilisi State Art Academy. After graduating he contributed to the restoration of iconography in several churches, such as the Church of St. Nicholas in Martkopi, the Church of the Archangels in Gremi, and the Church of Sts. Quiricus and Julitta in Lagurka.


Throughout his work he constantly sketched on paper. His diary entries explains his works: ‘working on paper requires a lot of work. The exterior effect is slight, however. The process lasts for a long time, but it is right during this process that an artist takes shape spiritually.’

The works displayed are an attempt at gathering together his scattered thoughts. There are almost 120 pieces exhibited in various media in two rooms, including Indian ink, pencil on paper, watercolours, tempura on cardboard and paper, and pastel on paper. These include 15 Indian ink sketches, 58 pencil sketches on paper, 32 watercolours, 5 tempura on cardboard, 5 tempura on paper, and 3 pastels on paper.

The themes include Old Tbilisi in Indian ink on paper, a series of 20 watercolour portraits, tempura paintings ‘On the Beach’, which are my favourites, and many self portraits. On one wall are a series of 19 sketches with quotes from Datuashvili, taken from his diaries. ‘If a human being has the calling for development, why should she not develop her own soul? If a human being has a soul, why does he not live through the soul?

Datuashvili died at the age of 24 on 19 October 2000.

The following are his mural of the King's painter, Thevdore (tempura - this was his thesis work), Couple (tempura), and two watercolour portraits:





 Below are examples of his pencil sketches and Indian ink drawings:




Below are his self portraits:










MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more