Deep Calleth Unto Deep

The introduction

Hello everyone, I hope that you are all doing just fine!

Now I want to tell you about this art exposition and  how I got there and everything. You know, I like art and, though I don't paint like my sister, well, I don't really paint, if you want to know the truth, I still love art and I like seeing it and analising and stuff like that. This weekend we were in some museums in Basel , where we saw some pieces of art, too, and it was really amazing, if you want to know the truth.

So , some time ago, there was this exposition in Tbilisi, which was really interesting and the artist was Gia Bughadze and he had some pretty interesting paintings exhibited in the gallery. It was in the National Gallery and it was on Rustaveli ave, of course and there was this specific time during which the exhibition lasted, and I nearly missed the whole thing, I mean, you know how it happens, sometimes you are busy and sometimes you just don't feel like going somewhere and stuff like that and I was thinking about going there, however, I thought that I might go there the next day and the next day I would think, that i would go there the other day, so that the thing was, that I really went there on the last day of exhibition! Well, to be honest, I really wanted to go there with someone else, but no one was really up to it, i guess, or whatever, so that I just went there alone. And, well, maybe it's even better if you go to the art museum alone , without anyone else talking to you and analising those paintings on the wall and things like that, you know. At least, I must say, that being there all alone was better than with someone else,I guess, and it really felt good and I just stood there in front of those paintings and looking at them and thinking. It was really a good idea to go there, even if it was the last day of the exhibition and they were like almost going to take those paintings off the wall, if you want to know the truth. However, being the last day of it had its perks, too, I mean, there was just this one other guy like me there to se the paintings, because the time during which the exhibition lasted was quite enough for everyone to go there and see those paintings and no one would really go there on the last day, especially on the last hour or so before the exhibition ended.

Going to the exhibition

Well, to be honest, I searched for the location and how I could go there and what the working hours were and what I needed to take with me and what it would cost and everything. I thought, that I was ready for anything. Then I was all packed up and stuff and went to see the exhibition. It was on Rustaveli avenue, so that it was really easy to get there, I mean, everyone knows Rustaveli ave, and I had also seen those museums from across the street or something like that, I mean, I had never been to any of those exhibitions before and I didn’t know, where things were and how exactly to get inside or whatever.

There’s this web page www.museum.ge, where you can see many things about Georgian museums and exhibitions and that was where I saw all that information about the exposition and everything.

So, I went to that web page and it said, that the exhibition was to be opened on the 6-th of September, 2016 and would last until the 27-th, so it was a large period between that if anyone wanted to visit the exhibition and enjoy the paintings there. It also said, that it was in the Georgian National Museum Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery and, well, I didn’t exactly know, where this gallery was, however, I just assumed, that it was on that spot, where the other museums were and so that I decided to get there and see the exhibition, of course.

Getting to the exhibition

The exhibition was a solo exhibition of Gia Bughadze _ Georgian painter. It was called “Deep Calleth Unto Deep” and the concept of the exhibition was based on the 7-th article of the 41-st psalm and it was about the internal and external worlds’ confrontation.

Well, it was some time earlier, that my father saw an information about this exhibition on TV and he told me about it and he told me to go and see it, because it looked pretty interesting and original. I’ve already mentioned, that I hadn’t been to the art gallery in Tbilisi before. I mean, I’ve been in museums and seen exhibitions abroad and first paintings that I saw on exhibition were probably in London National Museum and that’s pretty amazing, if you ask me, however, I hadn’t been to any art exhibitions in Tbilisi and I didn’t really know much about them. So, everything has its first time, so that it was my first art exhibition in Tbilisi and it was Gia Bughadze’s exhibition.

To be honest, I thought that I knew where the exhibition was and I went there nearby the Freedom Square metro station and went in front of that gallery buildings and sat there to get into the Internet and see the exact information. And it was good that I decided to do that, because I realized , that I was in a wrong place and it was getting late soon, because it was only an hour left or so until the closure of the exhibition and the museum, in general. So that I had to go up on the Rustaveli avenue and get to this National Gallery building, so I went there.

Getting there I saw this large building, where there were some advertisements hung in front of it and there was no sign where the entrance was, well, at least I couldn’t see it and it was kind of surprising, however, when I got closer, I noticed this sign, where it said, that the entrance was from the back of the building. So that, I went around the building to see where the entrance was. There was this sculpture there, pretty interesting, that I hadn’t seen before and it was a thin man with kind of a big belly and asthenic structure. Then I went to the left and saw this entrance of the museum, where there were some people going inside and there were also some foreign tourists taking pictures and stuff. There was this book shop, too , in the entrance, where people could just go in and shop for some art books and books about Georgia and stuff like that and they had some pretty good stuff there, if you want to know the truth, however, the prices were high, too, I mean, there’s usually expensive prices in such shops, which are mainly created for tourists, who are willing to buy such things, even if they are kind of expensive, I mean, they are the first time there or something like that, you know, so that they are willing to pay for those things, that they like and want to have it at home or take it with them or have it as a gift for someone else, etc.

Well, entering inside, there was this information desk, where there was this guy and he was kind of strange for that job, I mean, he had this beard and had a reggae type hat and everything and in Georgia you can’t really find people who look like that in places like that and that’s why I was surprised to see someone like him there at the information desk, however, it was really a great thing, because one can not be judged by their looks, if you ask me. So, this guy was really nice and everything, I told him, that I wanted to see Gia Bughadze exposition and I knew, that it was 1 Lari for students and I gave him this student IDand one lari and he gave me the check with a ticket and smiled nicely. Well, I didn’t know, where to go, so that I asked him and he said, that the exposition was from my left at the end of the corridor and there I could start my exhibition viewing. I thanked him, of course, and went to the left excited about my trip or adventure to this art work, which was to be pretty deep, if you ask me.

The exhibition

Getting at the end of the corridor, I saw these numbers hanging on the wall, it was in different colores and there was some kind of symmetry between them and, at the same time, there kind of was not this symmetry at all, well, I couldn’t decide on that. However, there was something, that was really nice and all those stuff on the walls were decided wisely, if you ask me. I really liked the structure of those paintings and they were like telling you something, or maybe they were just numbers for some and for some, they were supposed to be something else. That’s the art, of course. When someone wants to say something, some other may interpret it differently, however, that interpretation may be better, than the actual thinking of that piece of art. You know, art gives you kind of a freedom to express yourself, and, at the same time, let others feel something, that they don’t know they are feeling, or you give them the freedom of analising your work without frames or borders or anything and they can thing about anything while looking at your work. That’s what I like about art. And I hate those things, that they make you speak about those pieces of art and what the author meant with it and what he wanted to say, I mean, of course, there are artists, who want to say something and they paint these kinds of paintings and everything, but there are some of them, who just want to paint and put their feelings or thoughts into those paintings and there may be all those different things put into those paintings and you can’t really choose one from them.

Anyways, this art has no limits and it will exist until the very end, or, maybe it can even continue its existence after everything gets destroyed, who knows.

So, looking at those numbers on the paintings on the wall, I got kind of puzzled in a way, if you want to know the truth. I didn’t really know , what they were meant for, however, they were pretty amazingly decorated and hung there. There were also other paintings around, of course, however, these ones were the very first ones one would see when entering the room.

There were other paintings, mostly in an abstract forms and they were like giving you the depth of the thought and you could just stand there and look at them and think. The more you looked at them, the more deep they seemed and you could get the idea of having something in front of you that constantly changed itself in every second and you could discover many new things in each one. That was pretty awesome , if you want to know the truth, because standing there, staring at those paintings was just traveling somewhere else, where there was no gravity at all and you didn’t feel any atmosphere pressure on your shoulders and that’s what the feeling of freedom feels like, I guess, because when there’s no gravity, you feel free, I guess. well, after looking at those paintings, it was time to move around and get into the other hall, where the other paintings of the artist were exhibited. Getting closer made them look even different, than looking at it from the farther view. They were really great and fascinating and the supplies used to paint those paintings were different, too, I guess, because I don’t really know, but there were oil and spray paints used in that, as I assumed, however, there may have been other things, too, or there may even haven’t been those oil paints and they may have been acrylic or watercolor or something like that, I can’t really say. The thing was, that there were some different types of paints used and it made the paintings look better and more advanced, I guess, you know, I used spray paints on canvas once, while painting this rock singer and I used it to spray on the canvas around  the figure of this singer and the paint was gold coloured and it was just great on that canvas, however, when I was touching the canvas, where the spray paint was, it kind of got on my hands, I mean, it didn’t fade on canvas or anything, however, I had it on my hands, too. Well, it was not that much that I had on my hands, however, I didn’t really expect that thing to happen. Well, maybe it was because on some places I kind of sprayed much paint, than on the others, and, you know, that much spray paint wouldn’t get absorbed as a whole and if it was too much for the canvas , then it would get on my hands, of course. Though, I must say, that it shone pretty much and it was like a golden star on the painting and that’s what I really wanted the painting to be like and that rock singer to be seen as in golden frames or something like that.

Anyways, the most characteristic part of this exhibition was the crowd. I mean, there were people painted in those paintings and you could see them in different states and, well, the exhibition was about the confrontation of people’s internal and external environment, I guess, so that’s why there were people and their minds on the surface and everything. You know, those things are not to be seen just in seconds and then move to the other things. You should really stand in front of each painting and look at them very thoroughly to understand some things. Well, not the things about the artist, but the things about yourself. The art is about exploring yourself and not the other people, if you ask me. That’s the main thing, that I have decided about art. It’s also some kind  of a tool to escape from the real world, however, we don’t really know what the real world is, if you ask me. The thing is, that standing there looking at those paintings, I kind of realised some things inside me, that are trying to come out, or the things that are hidden away or fighting with each other. And the more you stare on those figures, that look like men, the more you get inside your own head and find some things inside you, that you hadn’t thought of. There were paintings with men figures in another hall, and those figures were falling from the sky and some of them were upside down, while some of them were not and , well, they were all falling down, however, they were all in a state of falling, I mean, they were in the air and not on the ground or already fallen or something like that. The painter just painted the air picture and not the ground picture, I would say. He just took some part of the whole picture and cut it out and put it into that painting. And, well, the whole picture would have been all those men fallen on the ground and the ground full of those people, I guess, or something like that, the painter just left it out for us and let us decide the result of the painting, if you ask me. However, the real picture would be the fallen men put on each other, I guess. The figures of those men were pretty well-painted, I mean, they were not some strokes or anything, they were pretty wisely decided and they had this exact shape of men, though there may have not been any effort put into painting them, I mean, they were not the exact, but they were exactly the figures of men, at the same time. It’s hard to explain, if you want to know the truth. And the names of those paintings were exactly the same for the paintings, too, I mean, they were called “The Falling Men” and things like that and the painting pictured the exact thing on it,  too. So, you didn’t really need to look at the sign next to the painting saying what it was called, because you could already guess the name of the painting by just looking at the painting with all those falling men painted on it. And there was not just one painting of that type with the falling men on it. There were a couple of paintings with those figures and I liked that, if you want to know the truth. That made the exhibition even more deeper, I guess, and it kind of exaggerated the idea of everything, being there a couple of paintings with those men figures, than just one painting of them in the whole exposition, if you ask me. By that I remembered this book, which my sister gifted to my brother. It’s called “The man falling” and it’s pretty interesting book, if you want to know the truth, however,  I haven’t read I yet. I just read its review that is on the cover of the book and that’s how I got the idea that it was pretty interesting. I’m planning on reading it, hence.

Getting in another hall, there were hay cubes all around and there were some small sculptures or cars all black or white with red dots and lines on them and it was like blood on them, I guess, and there were plenty of those cars on hay cubes and on the floor, laid there in a decided line and stuff like that. They were all like fallen from the sky or crashed into each other or something like that and it was like blood was all over them and it looked like some kind of apocalypse and it was all messed up and, at the same time, put in those exact positions, where they should have been, if you ask me, because one can not really make up a messed up situation, I mean, no matter how hard you try, you can’t really create something, that could have been created without any law or by occasion.  You know, those hay cubes were pretty interesting, too, I mean, I didn’t really understand the meaning of them, however, they looked beautiful in all that composition or installation or whatever it is called.

Well, there were very interesting things in the exhibition, that I can’t really describe, I mean, you should have been there and should have seen all those stuff yourself to actually get the idea of everything. And, besides, it was not allowed to take pictures there, however, I couldn’t really help myself but to take some of these pictures, because I wanted to have some visualizing memories about this exposition, and, besides, I’ve already mentioned, that it was my first art exhibition visit in Tbilisi, so that it made this thing double important for me, if you want to know the truth. So, I just took these pictures and I hope, that I haven’t broken the law very much, because I’m not using I for commercial use or something like that, I just had them taken for me and now I just want to share them with you and that’s all. Besides, they have published pictures of those paintings in the Internet and stuff like that, and it’s not a big problem that I share these pictures with you, too, I guess.

So, it was nearly 5 p.m. when I went outside of the halls of the exhibition and there were still some people in the building, I mean, it was nearly the closing hour and I thought, that I might look at the things in the souvenir shop and I went there and saw these books and art crafts and everything and I really wanted to buy some stuff, however, they were kind of expensive, and, besides, they were not that necessary for me, if you want to know the truth. So that, getting outside from there this one grandpa came to me and asked me if I was Georgian and when I said “yes”, he asked me to help him with his photo camera, which was not turning on and, well, though I know things about electronics and stuff, I couldn’t turn it on and I guessed, that its batteries were dead, so that I got pretty sad, that I couldn’t help this grandpa. After that, I just went out and went to the Rustaveli avenue and walked down to the Freedom Square metro station, from where I could just get home with this satisfying feeling of visiting the art gallery and seeing this exposition at last!

Photo gallery