Gia Gugushvili’s Fantastical World
By Liza Tsitsishvili
Extraordinarily prolific, Gia Gugushvili produces countless oil paintings in his studio, mostly on cardboard. His work primarily features figurative compositions with a distinctive style defined by squiggly brushstrokes and bold color combinations.
Recurring imagery includes men and women, dancers, thinkers, and haloed figures engaged in dialogue or deep thought. Gugushvili’s characters exude both stillness and vitality, mastering their chaotic surroundings and inhabiting their bodies confidently, despite the artistic distortions.
In his paintings, colors are erratic and shifting. To achieve this, he paints quickly with wide, blended strokes and thick applications of oil paint, giving his figures a rough physicality that contrasts with smoother backgrounds.
Born in Tbilisi on August 16, 1952, Gugushvili graduated from Tbilisi State Art Academy in 1977.
In your opinion, what was the most important part of your past?
Gia: Most important was the decision to become a painter and the hard work I put into it.
How is your work related to the country’s social or political circumstances, if at all?
Gia: I don’t think my work should be tied to such processes, except for poster designs.
What’s going on in our contemporary city?
Gia: There are huge developments in city design.
How did you spend the summer?
Gia: Summer is always hot in the south and in my studio too, but I haven’t stopped working.
Do you engage a lot with your students? Are any especially talented?
Gia: Yes, I teach master’s courses, the highest level of arts education, and I enjoy working with them. As for talent, life will show that.
Throughout your life, you have had many creative periods. How did your work relate to different epochs?
Gia: Like any painter, my creative periods can be divided into parts, differing in goals, experiments, and even scale. I’ve never aimed to describe reality directly. It may leave traces, but I never tried to represent it literally.
Who influenced your life and work?
Gia: My father, who was also a painter. Among teachers: V. Sherpilov, K. Maxaradze, and Jak Ikhamilian. They were highly regarded at the academy and beyond.
What is your main source of inspiration?
Gia: My mood.
How do Georgian contemporary painters influence the art world?
Gia: That’s hard to say. Generally, countries and cultures influence one another, so there’s always an exchange of ideas.
Looking back at the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, what was their significance?
Gia: Those years represented progress toward freedom—particularly artistic freedom.
Tell us, what does a typical day look like?
Gia: Painter’s Academy, meetings with colleagues, lectures with students, external meetings, and artistic work after 6 p.m. every day.
What do you do when you want to get away from everything?
Gia: I go to my studio and play jazz loudly.
What does Tbilisi mean to you?
Gia: I was born here, I live here, and I love my city.
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