"At Phillips Auction" London, 1990. Print - Limited Edition of 200

Besik was born on February 17, 1955, in Georgia—a country with a soul as ancient as its landscapes. His father, Mikhail Arbolishvili, was a painter, and his mother was a piano teacher. Growing up surrounded by creativity, he naturally found harmony in the arts. Georgia, with its rich history and enduring cultural depth, has always been an inspiration. It’s a land where ancient echoes live on, even in the discovery of a 1.7-million-year-old hominid skull in its eastern valleys. He doesn’t plan his paintings in the traditional sense. His process is intuitive—driven not by sketches or blueprints, but by the life he’s lived. The images arrive unannounced, flowing through him like a current. When he creates, he often forgets the act of painting itself. It’s as though he becomes a channel; the work doesn’t belong solely to him—it belongs to everyone. Daily discipline is essential. Like a priest in prayer, he paints each day to stay in tune with the invisible source of inspiration. He believes that an artist must always be ready to receive the impulse that might become a painting. He’s often asked what “ism” defines his work—expressionism, surrealism, realism—but he doesn’t subscribe to labels. He simply paints as he is. His art is shaped by feeling and emotion, and most of all, by love. To him, love is not just a concept but a presence—sometimes comforting, sometimes painful, always real. Since 1976, he has participated in national exhibitions, and since 1989, in international ones. His first solo show was in 1997 at Hobby Gallery in Tbilisi, followed by a 1998 exhibition at the State Picture Gallery. Over the years, he has shown work in Germany (Ruhr, Duisburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf), the U.S., and more. In 1998, he was invited by MVP International to join a cultural exchange at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he met with young American artists. His work has appeared in Phillips auction catalogs, and one of his most meaningful exhibitions took place at the International Monetary Fund in Washington. His paintings are held in collections across the world—from Richmond, Virginia to Munich, Moscow to Melbourne. One special story lives in the painting “The White Peacock,” which was gifted to a cathedral in Florida. The family who donated it told him, “The color speaks louder than the subject. Its light is spiritual.” That kind of response reminds him why he paints. Art is beauty for the viewer, but for the artist, it’s more. It’s a time machine.