Vajiko Chachkhiani. Heavy Metal Honey

The works of Vajiko Chachkhiani (*1985 in Tbilisi, Georgia) are characterized by their intelligent conception and an often quiet, substantive, and aesthetic poetry—and occasionally also melancholy. On the finely balanced interface between the reality of the outside world and the inner human psyche, they delve into existential questions of life, human perception, and the culture of remembrance. Often only at a second, more intense glance does the viewer participate in Chachkhiani’s thoughts and research. Allegories of everyday life are ostensibly retold with familiar images, only to be subtly broken by unexpected artistic interventions. His individual works—films, sculptures, performances, photographs, and large-scale installations—are characterized in their overall compositions by a dense narration that suggests various tracks and interweaves everything in dramaturgical density. The materials of his works emphasize historical references, as well as the bond with his homeland, which occasionally leaves its mark on his oeuvre. Whereas, for example, at first glance, some of his films may appear to be documentary, they elude clear decipherability and, upon closer examination, reveal a subtle, multiple-historical, and suggestive power. For a brief moment, Chachkhiani stops the wheel of time and history and offers the viewer a metaphorical (overall) image, which often focuses on vanishing and changing/transforming and, upon “immersion,” reveals multi-layered narrative strands.

For the exhibition, Chachkhiani developed a profound installation, which, through films and sculptures, reflects the cycle of life and the parallelism of histories that are only vaguely visible—much remains hidden, ultimately comes to light, and flows together when the unexpected happens: the internal now also becomes externally visible. At times, global and individual history are inseparably linked, and only the moment of action and cognition make history (or histories) a turning point which influences narration and perception.

Rein Wolfs, Director of the Bundeskunsthalle says, “Vajiko Chachkhiani confronts us with a Georgian natural catastrophe, family constellations and mythological symbolism. In his work, kinship becomes universal and the past gains in currency.”

Curator: Susanne Kleine
Director: Rein Wolfs
Managing Director: Patrick Schmeing