Galerie Kornfeld presents
Dramatic Flesh : Rodolfo Villaplana and Tamara Kvesitadze
Curated by Thierry Morel
London 13th – 26 October at D-Contemporary Art
‘Dramatic Flesh’, an exhibition featuring for a first time the work of renowned Venezuelan painter Rodolfo Villaplana and Georgian sculptor artist Tamara Kvesitadze.
As ‘Dramatic Flesh’ curator Thierry Morel points out the play between the two artists:
“In his work Villaplana deploys with his brush a wide-ranging symphony of hues and colours with uncompromising courage verging on brutality, in order to portray “the inner being” that he perceives in his sitter’s body and gaze. The rough and earthy texture of his oil paint seeks to defy the limitations imposed by the two-dimensional image and it is no coincidence that he sought to confront his latest work with Tamara Kvesitadze’s new sculptural groups of dislocated human figures. The painter rejoins the sculptor in this mysterious artistic process of construction and de-construction, adjunction, falsification even, that challenges the viewers’ senses and leaves them with a mixture of awe and raw emotions. The palpitating flesh reinterpreted by both artists is imbued with drama, in its purest and most archaic form, as if to lead one to a purifying catharsis.”
(Thierry Morel, Dramatic Flesh, fragment.)
Tamara Kvesitadze counts among the most reputable artists from Georgia. Having first been featured in a group show at the Georgian Pavilion in Venice in 2007, she would go on to represented Georgia with a solo presentation at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Her works are in numerous international private and museum collections, and she has public sculptures in various locations all over Georgia including the 8,5 meter high sculpture ‘Men and Woman‘ at the port of Batumi. She lives between London and Georgia.
Rodolfo Villaplana is a figurative portrait artist with a passionate following throughout Europe. Endorsed by the Young Masters 2013 panel, he has also been shown at various art fairs including the London Art Fair and PINTA International Art Fair. In 2015 he participated in the Art Venice Biennale3. Most recently he has had a solo show in MoMa Tbilisi. This summer he was chosen to represent UK in the Iranian Biennale of Art and to participate in the quadrennial of Rome in october 2016 with his show 8 and 1/2. He lives in London.
Images © the authors: Left: Tamara Kvesitadze / Right: Rodolfo Villaplana
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Exhibition ‘Dramatic Flesh’
Artists: Tamara Kvesitadze and Rodolfo Villaplana
12 – 26 October 2016
D-Contemporary, 23 Grafton Street, W1S4EY
