SHADOWS Painting

Born in Tbilissi, Georgia, Merab's attraction to painting started very early. At the age of 10 he already knew he wanted to be a painter. After completing his studies at the Tbilissi State Academy of Arts, he moved to Belgium to further his Arts studies at La Cambre Academy first, and then at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Due to historical family ties, Merab spends his whole youth and childhood in Georgia with artists. By the age of 25 Merab does nothing else but follow his passion. He participates in various group exhibitions and has his first solo show in 1993. His style has evolved with time. From very traditional motives and patterns his painting has undergone radical changes both in its spiritual as in its physical conception. In synch with time and space, he has added a new dimension to his works in the form of handmade acrylic figurines. This addition has allowed the artist to push further the technical boundaries imposed by his art and add both a new 3D dimension to his paintings and a way to play with the shadows created by the figurines, sculpted on the canvas. According to Merab, shadows shape, provoke tensions, disturb tonalities and give depths that would otherwise be missed. Merab currently lives in Brussels .