From April 4 through the end of June, Radisson Blu Iveria’s exhibition hall is hosting a retrospective of Georgian artist Zurab Abkhazi (Abkhazashvili) from titled ‘Celestial Bodies’. The show merges a series of black-and-white works created over various periods, unified by a one central theme: Earth as just a fragment of what we call home.
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Dédicace’s Gallery and Silk Hospitality and explores cosmic order and mystery through pigment-driven forms and meditative textures. “The endless combinations of black and white mirror the cosmos itself, mysterious, infinite,” the organizers say.
Abkhazi, born in Gori in 1968 and trained at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, worked as an art teacher in Uplistsikhe before devoting himself fully to painting. Strongly influenced by German Expressionism’s raw forms and textured surfaces, Abkhazi’s bigger pieces channel both brutality and harmony.
His studio is located amid the monumental landscapes of ancient Uplistsikhe, which is also an important source of inspiration. “The archaic environment and monumental nature around me have shaped my visual language,” Abkhazi has noted.
Celestial Bodies will remain open to visitors at the Radisson Blu Tbilisi until the end of June.