Solo Show "Here and There" at Arts Square Gallery, Moscow
20 May-26 June
The fundamental principle underlying art is paradox. Art is artificial, yet we believe in it as an absolute reality. In the case of Tornike Bendeliani's "image-documentation," we should discard the rails of modernity and leave this messy affair to amateur photographers.
Here, we observe an artistic image, a phenomenon more subtle and mystical than the wild reality of the everyday. Tornike's language demands a new vocabulary, if not a new alphabet altogether. His work is dominated by the theme of space, a springboard between the internal and external. Figures encased in concrete frames are meant to explore their place; they form an isolated field of action. There is no representation, narrative, and certainly no illustration here. Painting operates independently. Through the clever technique of isolation, the artist creates an Image – something greater than himself.
Tornike precisely selects objects and materials for projecting his ideas. His biomorphic symbol-figures are built on the principle of plastic understatement. They are the shimmering echoes of a single palm clap that have broken through the patina of existence. And if a concrete flute existed in the world, Tornike Bendeliani's paintings would be its silence.
The title of the exhibition, "Here and There," directs our attention not only to what is spoken within the space of the painting but also to uncover what lies "outside the artwork" – the context. From it, Tornike finds a symbolic code for the essence of feeling. Whether it be anticipation, tranquility, suffering, absorption, or love. Consequently, journeying between "here" and "there" bestows upon us another reality, accessible for abstract contemplation.
20 May-26 June
The fundamental principle underlying art is paradox. Art is artificial, yet we believe in it as an absolute reality. In the case of Tornike Bendeliani's "image-documentation," we should discard the rails of modernity and leave this messy affair to amateur photographers.
Here, we observe an artistic image, a phenomenon more subtle and mystical than the wild reality of the everyday. Tornike's language demands a new vocabulary, if not a new alphabet altogether. His work is dominated by the theme of space, a springboard between the internal and external. Figures encased in concrete frames are meant to explore their place; they form an isolated field of action. There is no representation, narrative, and certainly no illustration here. Painting operates independently. Through the clever technique of isolation, the artist creates an Image – something greater than himself.
Tornike precisely selects objects and materials for projecting his ideas. His biomorphic symbol-figures are built on the principle of plastic understatement. They are the shimmering echoes of a single palm clap that have broken through the patina of existence. And if a concrete flute existed in the world, Tornike Bendeliani's paintings would be its silence.
The title of the exhibition, "Here and There," directs our attention not only to what is spoken within the space of the painting but also to uncover what lies "outside the artwork" – the context. From it, Tornike finds a symbolic code for the essence of feeling. Whether it be anticipation, tranquility, suffering, absorption, or love. Consequently, journeying between "here" and "there" bestows upon us another reality, accessible for abstract contemplation.
