No. 26 Print

Nikoloz Koka Tsikhelashvili was born on 5th December of 1963 in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1982-1988 he studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Art, faculty of fine arts, Georgia. The diploma painting was sent to the exhibition of the best diploma works of the Soviet Union in Moscow. From 2005 - 2022 he was an Associate Professor at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. Nikoloz (Koka) Tsikhelashvili primarily works in two mediums - painting and graphic art. Most of his works are executed with oil on canvas, although there are also many oil pastel works on paper. Tsikhelashvili's paintings are in an ongoing relationship. As if each picture is a window to a parallel reality, where relations between man, animal, and nature are in the process of establishment. We can imagine this world as a self-contained ecosystem. Each subject and object play its specific role, and a sublime balance is found in their relations, conveyed by the artist's visual dictionary. In this " self-contained world," the interplay of halftones and flexible shapes creates utterly complex compositions. Interestingly, our immanent, existing reality is concentrated in this parallel world, which the creator has passed through the filters of his consciousness and taste. As a result, the personal attitude of the artist is revealed to the viewers. A female figure or a group of figures is often depicted in the works of Koka Tsikhelashvili. The wholeness of mark-making on surfaces generates s an aura within the compositions, where the depicted women seem to strive to exist in search of spiritual peace. Animal figures are highlighted with a personal and poetic attitude. Each of them represents a significant and complex being at the same time. It will seem a paradox that every "being" simultaneously creates an individual and a generalized character. One can feel much more than just an attempt to portray the visual specificity of a mundane animal. The animal on the canvases of Tsikelashvili represents the idea of an animal, the energy in the field of the artist's created a parallel reality. In the works of the artist, there is no attempt to show the superiority of one subject or object over another. On the contrary, there is a feeling that all the depicted figures, whether spiritual or inanimate, are self-sustaining and equally important.