Georgian Art Platform: Levan Chogoshvili

Levan Chogoshvili

Levan Chogoshvili is among the Georgian artists who got to write a column in the April issue of Artforum. Here he formulates his inspirations and motives behind creating the compositions that remind of the photo albums of noble families from the late XIX century. The photography that was so influential for the painter is most likely to have been from his family albums. His protest against the Soviet censorship was expressed in the subject matter of Georgian aristocracy and the pale pallet also a conscious rebellion against the imposed norms of Socialist realism. Painter describes the initial appeal to these photos as he saw the direct opposite to the pseudo-delightful life of Soviet Union and the aggressive atheism. He associated the aristocrats on the photos with the first Christians, both forbidden and forced to rethink their value systems. Chogoshvili saw those photos as the contemporary icons and therefore painted his interpretations in tempera (the traditional icon painting technique). Similar to the vast majority of worthy artists, his art was banned from official exhibitions, transforming him into one of the prominent members of Georgian underground art scene.

There is a strong influence of Orthodox Christian fresco paintings that the artist got to experience first hand while working on the conservation of Achi monastery in Guria, province of Georgia. His artistic impulse comes from strive to preserve the history of his country. Hence, the portrait series of Georgian Monarchs reside special place in his oeuvre, as well as the portraits of the prominent Georgian families- the Shervashidzes, the Vachnadzes. The very photo that provoked him to produce the first painting in the manner was of the Tsitsishvili brothers. There is a spirit of protest against the Soviet occupation that had the aristocracy wiped out. The aspirations Chogoshvili had for these portraits was to create the images of Georgian prominent ancestry, so that the future generations would know what to be proud of.

The oeuvre of Levan Chogoshvili has attracted international attention too. Apart from exhibiting in Europe he is a laureate of the President’s Prize on the Cannes festival. Most recently, a painting of his was included on the Sotheby’s exhibition At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from Caucasus and Central Asia.

He is a founder of the Association of Protection of Old Christian Art.