Sopo Cherkezishvili (b. 1971)

Sopio Cherkezishvili is a Georgian painter whose work explores the emotional and psychological landscape of human existence. For the artist, the human being remains the central axis of artistic inquiry; her paintings emerge from lived experience, memory, and deeply personal emotional states.

Cherkezishvili received her professional education at the Iakob Nikoladze Art College in Tbilisi (1986-1990) and continued her studies at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (1990-1994). She later studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (1994-1998), where exposure to contemporary European art practices significantly broadened the conceptual and visual language of her work.

Alongside her artistic career, Cherkezishvili has been actively engaged in art education. She is a Professor of Visual Communication at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). She has also served as a visiting lecturer at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and taught at the Iakob Nikoladze Art College.

Since 2000, Cherkezishvili has held 13 solo exhibitions in Georgia and Vienna and has participated in around 50 group exhibitions and international projects since 1996, including exhibitions in Budapest, Vienna, Venice, Israel, Lithuania, Vladikavkaz, Iran, Shanghai, Istanbul, and Baku.

As the artist states, “the most important subject for me is the human being; therefore my art comes from human experience and emotions.”

Her paintings are marked by a distinctive visual language in which figurative imagery merges with symbolic landscapes and psychologically charged atmospheres. Faces, gazes, and quiet yet intense emotional states become recurring motifs through which the artist reflects on identity, vulnerability, and the fragile balance between inner and outer worlds.

What Will You Tell Me Today?

In the series “What Will You Tell Me Today?”, Cherkezishvili constructs a symbolic and subtly surreal visual space where landscape and portraiture merge into a psychological narrative. The paintings revolve around the gaze — eyes that appear reflective, almost aquatic, suggesting both vulnerability and silent communication.

The repetition of faces and contemplative expressions evokes a sense of collective identity and emotional uniformity, while subtle variations hint at individuality beneath the surface. The atmosphere of the works oscillates between intimacy and estrangement: the viewer is confronted by calm yet penetrating gazes that seem to question, observe, and quietly await a response.

The artist’s use of soft yet contrasting color palettes — pinks, greens, and warm earth tones — creates a dreamlike environment in which everyday imagery transforms into metaphor. Houses, landscapes, and recurring faces become symbols of inner states, memory, and emotional distance.

Through these compositions, Cherkezishvili invites the viewer into a contemplative dialogue — a quiet yet persistent question about presence, identity, and the fragile language of human emotion.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024
And Then She Probably Said, Georgian National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

When I Was Born I Decided to Live, Atinati Cultural Center, Georgia

2022
If You Need It, Even Ships Will Stop, Gamrekeli Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

2020
Point of Contact, Gamrekeli Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

2019
The Caucasus Was Thinking About Me, Tbilisi History Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia

2016
Heavy Walk, Overground Gallery, Vienna, Austria

You Should Know I’m Not Waiting for You, Literature Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia

2013
Sometimes My Eyes Turn Red, Gamrekeli Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

2012
My Date of Birth, Wanda Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

2011
She Created Flowers from Her Roots, Tsinandali, Georgia

2001
In a Cage, N Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

2000
But the Heart Is on the Left, Theatre Basement, Tbilisi, Georgia

Why Does Grass Grow Over Me, Tbilisi History Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia

Selected Group Exhibitions and Projects

2024
Women Artists and the Epoch, Project of the Georgian National Gallery, Vigadó, Budapest, Hungary

2018
Tell Me That It Is Possible, Overground Gallery, Vienna, Austria

2017
Treffpunkt Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Personal Structures, Venice, Italy (Co-curator of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts Master’s Program project)

International Print Festival, TBC Bank, Tbilisi, Georgia

2016
Heavy Walk, Overground Gallery, Vienna, Austria

2015
Georgian Artists in Israel, Israel

2014
International Art Fair Vilnius, Lithuania

Meeting Pirosmani, National Gallery, Tbilisi, Georgia

2013
7th International Art Symposium Alanika, Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia

John Cage – 100 Years, National Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia

2012
Insulin, Janashia State Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia

Another March 8, Europe House, Tbilisi, Georgia

2011
Exit – Exhibition of Georgian Artists, Iran

Eco Inspiration, Europe House, Tbilisi, Georgia

2010
Showroom with Artificial Flowers – Pandora’s Box, Tbilisi State Academy of Arts

Installation Roots, Tsinandali House Museum

Istanbul 2010 – Project 12: Openly, Istanbul, Turkey

Reserve in Art, Tbilisi State Academy of Arts

Video Project One Minute City, Shanghai, China

2009
Aluminium, International Exhibition, Baku, Azerbaijan

Artisterium 09, Second International Exhibition of Tbilisi, Karvasla

Transkaukazia 2009, Poland

Project You Cannot Change the Heartbeat of My Country, Gori / Telavi

Bethlehem Microdistrict Project, Tbilisi

Open, Ethnographic Museum, Tbilisi

International Forum To Be a Woman, Baku, Azerbaijan

Stop Waiting Georgia, Tbilisi History Museum

2008
Strengthening Justice in Georgia Together, Art Center, Tbilisi

Gender and Harmony, Amirani Cinema, Tbilisi

2007
Atmosphere 41, Moscow, Russia

Digital Story, Tbilisi State Academy of Arts

2006
I Am a European Citizen, Die, France

Georgia to Georgia, Exchange Photography Exhibition, United States

One Minute Is Enough to See a Whole Life, TMS Gallery, Tbilisi

Gender and Politics, Marriott Hotel, Tbilisi

2005
Project Female Fantasies, N Gallery, Tbilisi

Art Caucasus, Tbilisi

Exhibition of Nikoladze Art College, TBC Bank, Tbilisi

Via Video, Baku, Azerbaijan

2004
Project Human Rights Are Part of Georgian Culture, Akhaltsikhe

Public Information Box, Tbilisi State Academy of Arts

You Have No Right to Change My Heartbeat, Telavi, Iashvili Gallery

2003
Please Don’t Be Weak, Rustavi Drama Theatre

2002
Through Art to Peace, Tbilisi History Museum

1999
United Nations Week Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery

1996
Library, Barni, Netherlands