Gia Edzgveradze

This painting was on display at the exhibition Ultramodern Nihilism in 1998 at the Ludwig Museum, as part of an installation of 30 paintings. With this painting Edzgveradze vivifies the genre of portrait. Traditional academic hierarchy places the rep¬resentation of the human form above all.

Edzgveradze makes ironic yet powerful installations out of plants, vegetables, everyday objects and graphic, often carica¬turistic paintings of black lines on white background. The humour of these installations comes from the formal associations and the unusual recontextualisaton of the objects.

This painting was on display at the exhibition Ultramodern Nihilism in 1998 at the Ludwig Museum, as part of an installation of 30 paintings. Edzgveradze often arranges his individual works into larger installations.

Born in Georgia, Gia Edzgveradze studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts between 1974-80. In 1986 he became a member of the Union of Soviet Artists. In 1989 he moved to Germany. Between 1996-99 he was professor at the graphics department of the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf.

This painting was on display at the exhibition Ultramodern Nihilism in 1998 at the Ludwig Museum, as part of an installation of 30 paintings. The hammer as an object is overloaded with symbolic meanings, especially in case of an ex-Soviet artist.