Georgia: With the support of the Ministry of Culture of Georgia, the new exhibition space in the fully rehabilitated second building of the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art is getting ready for its first exhibition on May 18, 2024.
A large-scale retrospective exhibition of artist Levan Lagidze’s “Painting” will be held here by exhibition curator Maka Bezhuashvili. Levan Lagidze’s exhibition will last from May 18 to August 18, 2024.
Georgian Minister of Culture and Sports Thea Tsulukiani and Director of Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art Nika Akhalbedashvili got acquainted with the preparation of the exhibition.
Levan Lagidze’s exhibition of this scale is held for the first time. The exhibition spans two floors and combines over 100 painting canvases owned by the author and over 50 private collectors. The exhibition also presents two works from the Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery.
Levan Lagidze is a representative of the 80s generation of the XX century, and the establishment of the term “80s generation” is also related to it. He graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 1981. The artist is distinguished by a different painting style that harmoniously unites rational and metaphysical.
An artist consistently follows his creative path and desire to search for eternal mystery. For him, painting is a way of learning the world. As Levan Lagidze says: “Painting starts not when you can draw, but – when you can’t, don’t draw.” “
In 2011, Levan Lagidze opened his own gallery in Tbilisi—Lagidze Gallery. Since 2018, he has been working with American curator Catherine Levin. The artist’s personal exhibition is held in London every year.
FYI: The new exhibition space of the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art will feature a permanent exhibition of the museum from October 2024. On the first floor of the building, a collection protected by the Art Museum’s architectural fragments will be displayed with a new exposition interpretation.
The third floor will be given to Niko Firosmanashvili’s newly restored panels: “The Hunting“ and “The View of the Black Sea,” “The Epic of Kakheti or Daytime on Alazan,” a panel in six pictures, “Grape picking or harvesting,” and more. It is worth noting that some works have not been exhibited for 50 years. Also, Georgian painting works from 1900- 1930 will be exhibited.
The fourth floor of the exhibition space will house masterpieces of Western European art, from the works of Paolo Veneciano to Vasily Kandinski.
The Exhibition Department of the Museums Group of the Georgian National Museum directs the exhibition policy of the new exhibition space (1400 m2).
