"The Nightmare" Drawing

Shota Imerlishvili (b. 1991, Telavi, Georgia) is a self-taught Georgian painter, human rights advocate, and peace ambassador whose creative journey began at the age of three. He received his first international recognition at eight years old, earning the UNEP South Caucasus "Peaceful and Healthy Environment" Art Award in 1999, the start of a twenty-five-year practice built outside formal art school. His work explores fragmented identity through cubist geometry, layered symbolism, and continuous-line drawing of fragmented faces, soaring birds, architectural distortion, and spiritual metaphor, channeling a vision of a unified world. He is widely known for his signature series Flying Peace, using birds in flight as a metaphor for freedom and the universal desire for peace. Parallel to his art, Shota has served as a global peace ambassador, a United Nations Youth Assembly delegate, and a European Parliament young diplomat representing Georgia. His exhibitions include solo shows at the Embassy of Georgia in Brussels (2019) and The Art Palace of Georgia in Tbilisi (2022). His work has been selected for major international group exhibitions, including the United Nations Headquarters in New York, UNRISD in Geneva, the Reece Museum in Tennessee, and the Swiss Art Expo in Zurich. His work has earned international recognition, including the American Arts Award for "World's Best Figure Impressionists" (2024), the Art Vue Prize Top 30 Paintings of the Year (2022), a Special Prize from The Pinacotheque Museum for the Luxembourg Art Prize (2017), and finalist recognition for the John Bryant Award in London (2020).