|
2 September - 31 October
2026 |
 Igor Tcholaria
-
the exhibition
'Golden Foxtrot Of Autumn' of the latest works
by Igor Tcholaria.
Igor Tcholaria
is an artist, a graduate of the Leningrad Art
Academy named after Mukhina, an honorary member
of the Russian Academy of Arts. He has travelled
from the small town of Ochamchiri on the Black
Sea coast to the largest galleries in Moscow,
London, Brussels, New York, Amsterdam, and
Utrecht.
Never ceasing
to study, he has deeply mastered the entire
spectrum of world art, from the old masters,
French impressionists and modernists, to modern
movements, where the thoughtful message often
plays a greater role than the image itself. At
the same time, he does not play at postmodernism
with its cold parody of old or recent classics.
Tcholaria uses immersion in art history to
maximize, often spontaneous, expression of
emotion and instantaneous vision. This is a
special talent. The great masters of bel canto
work in a similar way. The ease of singing is
achieved through exceptional technique,
developed over decades of work. Pavarotti sings
like he breathes. Tcholaria paints as if he were
breathing. Therefore, looking at his art, the
viewer also breathes easier.
At the same
time, if you take a closer look at the artist’s
work, you can identify several main directions.
Firstly, it is a portrait and Modigliani comes
to the viewer's mind. The elongated necks of
beautiful women seem to hint at this. But if you
look closely, you simultaneously feel the gentle
power of Raphael, the sublime detachment of
Russian icons and the clear lines of Georgian
coinage, which has its origins in Iranian
miniatures. Tcholaria managed to synthesize and
melt various ideas and directions in his inner
crucible. A new quality of image emerged,
instantly recognizable as his unique style.
Initially, the
artist was fascinated by the circus theme, where
the characters of the Italian comedy Del Arte
Harlequins and Colombinas also acted. They
freely mastered the space of his imagination,
allowing the author to fully realize the power
of his pictorial potential. He is also
fascinated by the ideas of modern circus action
in the spirit of the grandiose Cirque Du Soleil,
where acrobatics degenerates into a kaleidoscope
on a cosmic scale. Russian buffoons with their
golden bells of fair fun fit into this theme no
less organically.
If you think
about it, it’s easy to see that the real
avant-garde is archaic. Picasso's bull is
accurately scaled from a rock painting. The
primitive genius echoes across the modern
context thousands of years later. In a
philosophical sense, Tcholaria's works clearly
combine Apollonian and Dionysian motifs. Many
portraits and landscapes set a calm,
contemplative mood, which, according to
Nietzsche’s classification, is the theme of
Apollo. The expressive compositions are
organized by the carousel vortices of Dionysius.
In other
words, Tcholaria’s work is unusually artistic.
The abundance of masks on his canvases creates
an additional theatrical effect. The author acts
not only as a painter, but also as a director of
a passionate extravaganza, where Dionysius and
Apollo are presented in harmonious unity.
The surreal
motif also gives a unique sound to Tcholaria’s
landscapes. Quite traditional in content, they
demonstrate a completely fresh and deep look at
familiar reality. You can’t help but remember
Blok’s line - and again the world will appear
strange, shrouded in a coloured fog...
Many
collectors note the positive energy emanating
from his paintings. It is not for nothing that
Tcholaria’s works are in the collections of such
art connoisseurs as Pavarotti, designer John
Galliano, singer Madonna, the outstanding hockey
player Mogilny, the most popular French actors
Pierre Richard and Gerard Depardieu, and the
tamer of the silent lambs Anthony Hopkins.
Having made
wide turns in European time and space, Tcholaria
received an invitation and in 2022 held a large
retrospective exhibition at the State Russian
Museum of St. Petersburg.
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