Levan Chogoshvili

Artists

Levan Chogoshvili

Press release

Levan Chogoshvili (b. 1953, lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia) is among the most important Georgian artists of his generation. Since the 1970s he had created an extensive body of work in Tbilisi which incorporates painting, drawing, film and sculpture. Central to this work is the question of history: how it is essential – in general, but particularly for Georgia. For some two centuries in the case of Georgia, the telling or recording of history has been continually under pressure; history is continually expunged or corrupted, equally artists like Chogoshvili bring it back to life and render it visible. In his series Destroyed Aristocracy (1970-1985), for example, he created a new form of imagery, one which was based on the family photographs that were hidden for decades, because their existence could have been life-threatening for whoever possessed them. Chogoshvili's art, which was prohibited in the Soviet Union until well into the 1980s, grapples with this erasure. It resists ignorance and stands up against amnesia. For these and many other reasons Choghoshvili is very highly regarded by the younger generation of Georgian artists, as an examplar, teacher and their selfless supporter. The exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich will be the artist's largest to date. The images shown above were taken in the artist's studio. The artist will be present.