ATINATI: Artist in focus - Simon-Vazha Melikishvili

Artist in focus • Simon-Vazha Melikishvili (1936-2004) was a Georgian artist. Sculptor by education Vazha Melikishvili worked in different media. Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery presented a retrospective exhibition of his works. The exhibition showcased the artist’s oeuvre, not only his sculptures but also his paintings and graphics. The majority of them remained unrealized due to their absolute incompatibility with Soviet ideology. In his creations, both kings and fairy tale characters communicate through a shared language.

Period when Vazha Melikishvili emerged as an artist, coincided with the crucial breaking point in Georgian visual arts. He became an active participant of this process: he constructed a number of important complexes in Georgia and outside the country.