Playing Painting

Born in 1960, a Georgian artist Zaza Tuschmalischvili came to Berlin at the beginning of the 1990s. His upbringing in the Caucasus placed him at a point of cultural crossover where, historically, influences from East and West collide. Educated in the period 1971 - 1988 in Gori, Tchinwali and Tbilisi, the established painter and restorer of medieval mural paintings found novel cultural tensions to explore in Berlin. Here Tuschmalischvili developed his unmistakable style which marks him out as one of the most significant figures of contemporary Georgian art. On Tuschmalischvilis canvases quasi-religious iconographic elements merge with cubist or surrealist forms. The combination of warm colors and ingenious technique works to create a tangible evocation of the artist's Georgian homeland. Exhibitions and art fairs in Western Europe, Russia and Georgia. In 2014 the book about the artist was published by Georgia Berlin Gallery, the title "Zaza Tuschmalischvili. Georgische Einsichten / Georgian Insights". ISBN: 978-3-00-044459-3. Documentaries and awards: 2014 Zaza Tuschmalischvili Einsichten Georgien-Berlin / Insights Georgia-Berlin Artbook published by Georgia Berlin Gallery 2006 Georgian Impression - The painter Zaza Tuschmalischvili Film by Zaza Buadze, Tbilisi, 30 Min. 2005 - 2001 Documentation Georgische (Ein) Sichten 1999 - 1994 Publication at Art Profil Issue 3 2000, Issue 2 2001, Issue 5 2003, Issue 1 2005 1997 Exhibition at Berlin-Alexanderplatz, Award from the New Society of Art 1995 "Russians of Berlin" Film documentation from the Academy of Art Berlin His paintings are in the collection of Daimler Chrysler, Spielbank Berlin and in private collections around the world. Excerpt by Brigitta Schrade, Art Historien Zaza Tuschmalischvili`s paintings convey a feeling of warmth, light and brightness. Even in pictures which are dominated by a cool blue color, there are windows open to the light of a bright sunny day. In his Cubist-influenced collages, shaped patches of color convey this feeling of brightness and warmth reminiscent of both the Mediterranean and Zaza’s home country, Georgia. This warmth is derived not only from the atmospheric coloring of his paintings, it is also perceptible in the themes of love, childhood ,carnival and play which illuminate so much of his work. Each of his paintings stands alone; each is a unique and distinctive work.