Imereti 1917

David Kakabadzé made this landscape of the Imereti region with oil on canvas, and it's a real trip. The painting reads like a map, doesn’t it? It’s got these rectangular shapes of green, yellow, and brown layered on top of each other. I can imagine David standing in front of the canvas, thinking about the space as he builds up these colorful fields. Is he thinking about the farmers? How the sun hits the land? Is he trying to capture the pure essence of Imereti? I’m especially drawn to the way he handles the fields, they are almost abstract. The fields have a real texture to them, like a collage. He’s taking what he sees, what he knows, and turning it into something new. Kakabadzé’s experimentation with form and perspective reminds me of Picasso and Braque. Artists are always riffing off each other, aren't they? And that's what makes painting so alive.