Tamarisi Art Gallery displays Edisher Baramidze’s paintings
July 30, 2012 1 Comment
Susanna Melo and Tamara Tsintsadze in Tamarisi Art Gallery; copyright Keith Kenney, 2012.
Tamara Tsintsadze; copyright Keith Kenney, 2012.
Story by Susanna Schisler Melo
I started up a conversation with Tamara Tsintsadze at an IWA (International Women’s Association) coffee morning when I thought I had overheard her say that she was a Latin American Studies specialist and had been to a conference in Rio. The latter was correct, but she is an African-American Studies specialist—and the only one in Georgia!
Tamara is well traveled and has many interests. You could say she is a woman who wears many hats. She is president of a couple of organizations (Rotary; Society of Georgia-China Friendship) and Director of the School of Languages and Humanities as well as the “Tamarisi” Art Gallery.
Since Keith and I enjoy learning about Georgian artists and their work, we decided to pay a visit to Tamara’s gallery in Saburtalo. She was kind and gracious as she talked to us about how she started her gallery and her various collections of art.
We were quite surprised when we walked into her well-lit, well-designed, spacious room with paintings covering all wall surfaces. Most of the displayed paintings are by the deceased artist Edisher (Botso) Baramidze, whom Tamara began collecting 15 years ago. She now owns approximately 250 of his paintings.
The story behind Edisher is bittersweet. He would have been my age had he not died 6 years ago. His bohemian lifestyle cut his life short. He came from a creative family, but according to an article I read, the family members were so involved in their own work and careers that Edisher was neglected. As a schoolboy, Edisher got involved with music; he put together bands and experimented with a variety of music trends. It was only later in his life that he began painting.
Keith and I enjoyed looking at Edisher’s various painting styles. Many of his works use mixed media such as “paint, stone, brick, clay, sawdust, human hair, woolen threads, seeds and other things.” The photo below shows a portrait of a man whose hair is actually the human hair that belonged to his daughter after she got a haircut!
If you would like to see Edisher’s paintings, please contact: Tamara Tsintsadze at Tamriko@gmail.com.
Edisher (Botso) Baramidze’s painting incorporates his daughter’s hair; copyright Keith Kenney, 2012.
