Possibility, Nansen - Thea Djordjadze

About

Studio Voltaire is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in the United Kingdom by the Cologne based artist, Thea Djordjadze. In partnership with the Goethe-Institut, London, the artist will be resident at Studio Voltaire for an intense work period, producing new works specifically for the exhibition onsite. This new commission will be Studio Voltaire's fifth artists' commission following Liam Gillick (2004), Joanne Tatham & Tom O'Sullivan (2005), Spartacus Chetwynd (2005) and Chris Evans (2006).

Djordjadze's working method draws from literature and music as well as art historical references from early Modernism, particularly Surrealism. This is combined with a strong sense of process and an awareness of the potential authority and phenomenology of the art object. Often working with everyday and found materials such as fabric, glass, wood, metal and ceramics the artist typically makes small to medium scale organic constructions that combine an almost 'Beuysian' shamanistic or ritualistic use of materials with the formalism of early modernist sculptural objects. Drawing on the tropes of Surrealist juxtaposition of everyday objects and the narrative conceit of the aura of shamanistic presentation of materials, the resulting works are psychologically effecting and uncomfortable.

Originally born in Georgia, Thea Djordjadze now lives and works in Cologne. The artist studied under Rosemarie Trockel and has a growing reputation within Europe as an important emerging voice within contemporary sculptural practice. Previous exhibitions and projects include History of an Encounter, Micky Schubert, Berlin (2007); Mondi Possibili, Sprueth Magers, Cologne (2007 and 2006); Modus, Neue Kunst Halle, St Gallen (2006); Pampel, Mohr-Villa, Marienplatz, Munich (offsite project) (2006); 7, Sprueth Magers Lee, London (2006); Play, Stadtmuseum Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf (2005) and Zero Gravity, Kunstverein Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf (2001). Djordjadze was also a founding member of the collective hobbypopMUSEUM. The artist is represented by Sprueth Magers, Munich/Cologne/London and Micky Schubert, Berlin.

In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, London and supported by The Henry Moore Foundation