Jemal Gugunava

Motto: Paint what you love — let neither trend nor anyone dictate

Spreading his time between the UK, Prague, and Georgia, Jemal paints whatever captivates his eye and imagination — landscapes, city streets, still lifes, people, and especially the female form. Trained as a classical painter in The State Academy of Arts, he masterfully combines time-honoured techniques — such as the Venetian method once used by Titian — with modern impasto that lends a sculptural, almost three-dimensional quality to his work.

Although Jemal’s philosophy of life rests on harmony, purity, contemplation, and simplicity of existence, his paintings are anything but neutral. They dramatize reality rather than merely depict it. Each brushstroke invites the viewer to focus deeply on the essence of the subject — the emotion, the silence, the tension — without being distracted by unnecessary detail.

While his portraits, figurative conceptual paintings and landscapes tend towards expressionism, exploring emotion through dramatic contrasts of light, deep intense colour and form, Jemal’s still lifes embody a quieter philosophy - Minimalism in Realism - as he describes his style. At first glance, these compositions may seem simple, yet every object is delibera...

Jemal received his BA and Master of Fine Arts degree (MFA) from The State Academy of Arts in Tbilisi (Georgia).

2025 - Group exhibition in December 2025, Original Gallery, Prague
2025 - Longlisted for the Jackson's Art Prize 2025
2024 - Bonds. Beseder Gallery, Prague
2021 - In the Shadow of the Great Impressionists. Albina Gorbina Gallery, Prague
2018 - Unity in Diversity. Bristol & Tbilisi: 1988-2018. Tbilisi History Museum - Karvasla, Tbilisi, Georgia and The Vestibules, Bristol, UK
2017 - Pre-selected for the 165 Annual Open Exhibition, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2017 - The Other Art Fair, Bristol; Parallax Art Fair, London
2016 - Portraits in The Brick Lane Gallery, London (14 - 24th April)
2015 - Pre-selected for The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Open Exhibition, Mall Gallery, London
2014 - "Figuratively Speaking", The Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol, UK
2012 - Pre-selected for the BP Portrait Award 2012 at the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
2012 - 2012 Holburne Portrait Prize, Bath, UK
2011 - "The Bridge", Centrespace Gallery, Bristol
2004 - Clifton Gallery, Bristol, UK
2001 - Solo exhibition, Gallery Nora, Prague, Czech Republic