Gvantsa Jishkariani <br> TRAUMA PORN

“Brutal Honesty”, “Formal Moral”, “Generational Trauma”: these are some of the slogans Gvantsa Jish­kariani embroiders on her works. They also describe the special aura sur­roun­ding her art. Jish­kariani, who was born the same year that Geo­r­gia regained its indepen­dence, can indeed be brutally honest, and she does com­bine for­malism with morality, but generational traumas are also reflec­ted in her works. The star­ting material for these pieces is the decorative tapestries that were popular in the Soviet Union, which the artist decon­structs and proces­ses by applying embroidered mottos. The lan­guage she uses, bor­dering on parody, is a mixture of political ban­ners, academic jargon, and notes from therapy ses­sions. By juxtaposing post-​Soviet material cul­ture with the new­speak of Global English, Jish­kariani creates unique, artisanal objects—captivating souvenirs of our con­tem­porary political apocalypse.

 

Gvantsa Jish­kariani (born 1991) studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and the Center of Con­tem­porary Art Tbilisi. She is an excep­tional figure on the Geo­r­gian con­tem­porary art scene, known as an artist but also as the creator of the off gal­leries Patara and The Why Not Gal­lery. She was the curator of the Tbilisi Photo Festival and foun­der of Gar-​Gar, Georgia’s first magazine on con­tem­porary art and fashion. She cur­ren­tly lives and works between Tbilisi and Madrid. Her works are inc­luded in numerous major inter­national col­lec­tions, such as the Alain Servais Col­lec­tion, Col­lezione Taurisano, the Royal Family of UAE Col­lec­tion and the Marval Col­lec­tion. In Warsaw her works were shown for the first time at last year’s NADA Villa Warsaw.


UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Gvantsa Jishkariani
TRAUMA PORN

opening 14 February 2025, 5:00–8:00 pm

exhibition runs through 5 April 2025