Jun 17

Levan Mekhuzla

Levan Mekhuzla is a mixed media artist and architect who has exhibited extensively in Tbilisi and Paris as well as showcased in Belgium and Canada. Recent solo exhibitions include features at L' Asociation Philomuses in Paris and Galerie Baia in Tbilisi. He has participated in over 40 exhibitions to date since 1990. Levan has been a member of The Painter's Union of Georgia since 1974 and was invited by the Ministry of Culture of France to the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.

Although Levan’s works may appear to be photographic or digital in some aspects, a vast majority of the works are in fact executed with just pencil and paint, such as acrylic or watercolor. A few of his pieces do incorporate photographic collages however. Intensively detailed, the mixed media paintings contain extreme subtleties in texture and form usually in neutral or earthy tones. The work deals with concepts such as the passage of time which can be reflected in what appears to be textures of decay on the surface. Some of the paintings contain planes resembling rust and aging qualities similar to the process of erosion. Highly geometric and precisely linear, Levan’s works sometimes have the appearance of brutalist architecture or satellite topographical imagery. Usually small geometric patterns or asymmetrical placements illuminate the surface, sometimes also containing small dots. These purposeful and directed abstractions are studies of structure in relationship to negative space, linearity, and complex geometry, in essence Levan paints like an architect.

One of Levan’s most unusual pieces remains the untitled piece with the purple strip (pictured above). Sitting across the surface like a monumental piece of brutalist architecture, the painting contains abstracted shadows on the bottom surface which do not reflect reality and a gradation in the background shifting into darkness. The surface of the asymmetrical geometrical shapes in the center of the composition has an appearance of a mix between marble and steel dust. Upon the top left portion contains a negative space inserted as a half-sphere indented into the central subject. And of course we have the pristine purple strip slightly below center crossing horizontally against the central structure. Because the purple strip remains the only non-neutral color in the entire piece, the painting gives off a minimalist connotation. Our attention becomes directed towards the contrast between vast portions of neutrality against a bright colored slim rectangle absorbing most of the observation of the viewer.

Levan Mekhuzla creates precise mixed media paintings with immense gradual transition followed by sharp containment with personalized structure. These compositions create a philosophical take on the process and depiction of erosion and how nothing escapes the elements of decay. As a reminder, nothing escapes the process of erosion, not even the tallest cliff or highest mountain. Through the destructive powers of wind, water, and light everything breaks down, both organic and inorganic substances do not escape the power of erosion. In such a regard, because the works have surface appearances of decay, rust, and the overall breaking down of material, Levan has achieved his goal in addressing time as well as pointing out the inevitably of death upon all particles both living and inanimate. The quietness and stillness of the paintings, void of motion or signs of life, create centers of focus on machine-like precision and guidance.