Allow

04.03.2023 -19.04.2023

With the exhibition Allow David Meshki (*1979, Tbilisi) continues his observations of movements. For the first time he combines images from several groups of works and exhibits his own work in relation to each other. This allows his work to be read in a new way.
 
In some 24 photographs in the gallery spaces, young, mostly male people can be seen trampolining, skateboarding, bouldering, stretching and expanding. Photographed in close-up and with backgrounds that are difficult to define, it is often impossible to determine whether the sitters are lying, standing, or falling. However, a tension can be discerned in their bodies. Aesthetic references to the world of glossy, fashion photography and Technicolor-era color in film date back to his early childhood. Growing up in the 1980s in Georgia, which had still been part of the Soviet Union, his access to these aesthetics was very limited. His father, however, was the coach of the national gymnastics team and therefore traveled to many countries. Traveling was a great privilege in those days. From global tournaments, the father brought back brochures, magazines and sometimes films that would open the world of Meshki. In this way, as a boy he gained insight into other points of view.
 

Grotta Azurra, 2022
Archival Pigment Print
on Baryta Paper
80x57cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Supernature 01
(Nonexistent Spot N15), 2018
Archival Pigment on Poyo Satin Gloss Baryta Paper
40 x 28,5cm | Ed.: 2/3 +2 AP

Selfi, 2022
Archival Pigment Print
on Baryta Paper
60 x 42,8cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

In one photograph, one sees a reddish moon surrounded by a lapis lazuli blue firmament. It's like a spontaneous glance, where you happen to notice the moon briefly while looking at the sky. Some motifs are mystically charged for artists, like a connection between the now and the past. In the case of the artist, it is a memory of his father. As a child, he encouraged him to jump on the trampoline, telling him that if he jumped high enough, he could touch the moon up in the sky and feel freedom.
 

Starshaped, 2021
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Baryta Paper
40 x 28,5cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Supernature 10, 2019
Archival Pigment Print on Baryta Paper
40 x 28,5cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Miss Me At The Party, 2022
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Baryta Paper
59 x 42cm | Ed.: 3 + 2AP

The West became a place of longing. And the athletic bodies of the "flying" became the projection surface of an ideal. Since the beginning of his artistic activity, these elements have been recognizable. The artist takes freedom and youthful lightheartedness literally; he lets his protagonists float. As if in a dream, they seem to fly above the gymnasiums, at peace with themselves. In the documentary When the Earth Seems to Be Light (2015), which Meshki shot together with Salome Machaidze and Tamuna Karumidze, this seemingly endless world full of possibilities and simultaneous hopelessness is captured.
 
Meshki exchanged the documentary view for the free, open perspective of the artist. It is no longer accuracy that represents a reality, but an inner state that he comes much closer to through his photography than documentation can. As if exploring his own fragility and identity. The desire to return to early lightheartedness, which have been so felt especially in youth and adolescence. The question of masculinity and different ways of life, escapism and idealism. Questions of masculinity and femininity emerge in his observations. What is natural and mystical? What is earthly and what is possibly divine.
 

Icon, 2022
Archival Pigment Print Baryta Paper
80 x 57cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Abstract Body 03, 2016
Pigment Print auf Baryta Paper
30 x 20cm | Ed.: 2/3

Hang On There 01, 2023
Archival Pigment on Baryta Paper
100 x 42,5cm | Ed.: 3 + 2AP

The works of David Meshki leave a melancholic and beautiful feeling of longing. Like some nights when looking at the moon. This exhibition is part of EMOP Berlin - European Month of Photography in Berlin.
 

Newborn light, 2021
Archival Pigment Print on Baryta Paper
40 x 28,5cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Higher 18, 2023
Archival Pigment Print on Baryta Paper
28,5 x 40cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Avant-garde 01, 2021
Archival Pigment Print Baryta Paper
60 x 42,8cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

David Meskhi studied photography at the Shota Rustaveli Theater and Film University in Tbilisi. Early in his career he worked as a photographer for the main Georgian cultural magazines. His works were represented in the collection of the Georgian House of Photography. Meshki's works have been exhibited in countless solo and group exhibitions, including Paris Photo 2019, Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, Braunsfelder Familiensammlung in Cologne, Calvert22 Foundation in London, Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center in Budapest, Kunstverein Freiburg and Biennale de la Photographie de Mulhouse. In 2024, he will open a solo show at Le Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole (MAMC+) in France. David Meskhi lives and works in Tbilisi and Berlin.

Hair, 2009
Pigment Print on Fine Art Baryta Paper
70 x 100cm | Ed.: 3 + 1/2

Han On There 02, 2023
Archival Pigment Print Baryta Paper
40 x 28,5cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Higher 02, 2019
Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Baryta Paper
62 x 100cm | Ed.: 1/3 + 2 AP

Marine moon, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
on Baryta Paper
60 x 42,8cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

When the earth seems to be light (2), 2007
Archival Pigment Print
on Hahnemühle Baryta Paper
28,5cm x 40cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP

Dune, 2021
Archival Pigment Print
on Baryta Paper
40 x 28,5cm | Ed.: 3 + 2 AP