Karlo Kacharava: Sentimental Traveller

The first institutional show to be dedicated to poet, critic and artist Karlo Kacharava outside of his native Georgia is taking place at S.M.A.K. in Ghent (2 December–14 April 2024). Charting the full breadth of his career – cut short by his untimely death at the age of 30 – the exhibition brings together paintings, drawings, poetry and cultural criticism. Though Kacharava never had any children of his own, the relationships between fathers and daughters are a recurrent theme in his work, as in the enigmatic painting My Daughter is a Prison Ballerina (1992), which may be a reflection of his relationship with his sister following the death of their own father at a young age. Elsewhere, urban landscapes such as Sentimental Traveller (1993) demonstrate the influence on his practise of his frequent travels between Tbilisi, Cologne, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Moscow. Find out more on SMAK’s website.

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Sentimental Traveller (1993), Karlo Kacharava. Courtesy the Estate of Karlo Kacharava, Tbilisi, and Modern Art, London

Für Dich (1993), Karlo Kacharava. Courtesy the Estate of Karlo Kacharava, Tbilisi, and Modern Art, London

Der Benkier (1993), Karlo Kacharava. Courtesy the Estate of Karlo Kacharava, Tbilisi