FOCusof ARTIST

punctum
contra
punctum
A M E R I C A N
E D I T I O N
vizualuri xelovnebis saerTaSoriso gamofena
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF VISUAL ART
Richard L. Tooke
Curator
When I was asked to be the curator for the 2013 edition of PUNCTUM
CONTRA PUNCTUM II I was given a set of guidelines to continue the
goals and mission to focus on the cultural exchange and one-one-one
connections through the visual arts on an international scope. It was
an exciting challenge that I willingly accepted. Working for a year
to gather twenty world class artists to interact on this scale seemed
daunting, but by working with a group of Georgian artists, plus artists
from Germany and the United States we put together an exemplary
group of participants. There were to be five Georgian and five from
the United States. The others were to be from other nations. We all
gathered together in Tbilisi in August 2013 at the Georgian National
Museum’s National Gallery to make this exhibition a reality.
Having selected the artists and the works of art to be exhibited, I
came prepared with floor plans and had a clear idea of where each
work of art was to be positioned. Even though I was fully prepared to
install the exhibition, knowing that the reality of seeing the works of
art placed in the specific gallery that I had chosen would need some
fine tuning. I arrived five days early to assemble the works of art in
the galleries. As the artists arrived and the works of art were uncrated
and put in place, it became clear from the beginning that this cultural
exchange idea would work perfectly. Here we had twenty artists from
thirteen different nations, with our own cultures and languages working
closely together with the same goal. When small and large problems
arose they were discussed. Various alternatives were suggested.
Within a minimum amount of time the solution was clear. We acted
accordingly. The problem was solved and we moved on. When the
opening reception occurred on Sunday, 1 September 2013 my concept
had been realized but it could not have been so without the assistance
of the National Museum’s staff and the participating artists.
To exemplify the cultural exchange and one to people connection, the
opening gallery exhibited works of art by two Georgian artists: Nicholas
Berdysheff and Gega Paksashvili; two American artists: Steve Tobin
and Michael St. Amand; plus an Italian: Emilio Merlina. Moving to
the right into a large dimly lit gallery with works of art that dealt with
water and light. American artist Hollis Jeffcoat’s paintings inspired
by the Gulf Coast of Florida; Georgian artist Guram Tsibakhashvili’s
WATER MEMORY digital prints: American Stephen Knapp’s: Lightpainting:
NO BOUNDARIES and the video art of Grimanesa Amoros:
MIRANDA, photographed on the coast of her native Peru. This was
a quite contemplative gallery with lots of space. Going back through
the opening gallery to the next gallery you enter a large brightly lit
gallery with many disciplines (sculpture, digital art, photographs, and
paintings) on display here. Bright colors and images that make you
look from one artist’s work to another and back again. The works
of art here represent: Georgia (Maka Razmadze), Germany (Rainer
Lagemann & Andreas Oetker-Kast), Cuba (Antonio Guerrero), France
(Edouard Mortec), Austria (Patricia Frida), and The Philippines (Michael
Vincent Manalo). The last gallery has two artists, Maria Fernanda
Lairet (Venezuela) and Marco Nicolos Heinzen (Switzerland) with
multiple images that fill entire walls, and two artists Alex Berdyheff
(Georgia) & Evelin Juen (Austria) whose images bring to mind the Surrealists
and offer a contrast.
We are now in the process of replicating the Georgian exhibition:
PUNCTUM CONTRA PUNCTUM II, in a different location: The Sidney
& Berne Davis Art Center, Fort Myers, Florida, USA. I know that my
plan and vision will only happen with the same kind of comradely, mutual
respect and by working together in the same way that occurred
in Tbilisi, Georgia. And it will be the same in the USA too. You are
invited to experience this visual dialogue between diverse cultures.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Berdysheff
150 FOCUS of SWFL 2013