EXHIBITION: Knights from Pshav-Khevsureti - Andro Semeiko - in collaboration with writer Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili and fashion designer Manana Antelidze

Opening: Friday 15 September 18.00
16 September – 14 October
Tuesday–Friday 11.00-18.00, Saturday 11.00-17.00
Giorgi Leonidze State Museum of Georgian Literature
Address: 8 Giorgi Chanturia St., 0108, Tbilisi
Phone: +995 322 932 890; +995 322 932 045
Email: info@literaturemuseum.ge
Website: www.literaturemuseum.ge
Facebook: facebook.com/Knights from Pshav-Khevsureti



The project explores life and work of Vazha-Pshavela in relation to pertinent socio-political issues around the world and particularly in Georgia.

Andro Semeiko and Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili have explored Vazha-Pshavela’s work and his personal objects from the Literature Museum collection, and have selected the poet’s handkerchief as the central object around which they create a metaphorical world through their own work.

Andro Semeiko creates an installation inhabited by a ghostly presence of a medieval knight, a legendary crusader that lived in Khevsureti. He carries the poet’s handkerchief as a talisman and addresses Vazha-Pshavela’s ideas of humanism and progressive attitude towards nature.

Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili has, in the process of her research, discovered that the handkerchief was made especially for the poet and given to him as a gift by Georgian Women’s Society; she creates a fictional character that reflects women’s voice in the world.

Manana Antelidze addresses various aspects of Vazha-Pshavela’s humanism including the female voice in his work, and designs an androgynous outfit, which combines audacity and gentleness.

The exhibition is an installation consisting of painting, drawing, fashion, archival material, slideshow, text and audio work that create a multilayered story. The project will be followed by a Georgian-English publication and further exhibitions and book launches in the UK and Georgia.

The project is made possible with the kind support from Arts Council England, British Council, AG Alco and magazine Beaumonde.

ART: Sun 27 Apr - Andrew Hunt in conversation with Andro Semeiko and Tom Morton - Andro Semeiko's current solo exhibition, 'Only Words Can Tell You How I Feel'

Dear friends,
Please come to Southend for my talk this Sunday. The weather is supposed to be good and we will have a barbecue. Best wishes,
Andro

Andrew Hunt in conversation with Andro Semeiko and Tom Morton

Sunday 27 April 2pm
 

Andrew Hunt will be in conversation with Andro Semeiko and Tom Morton on Sunday 27th April to discuss Andro Semeiko's current solo exhibition, 'Only Words Can Tell You How I Feel'. We will hear two presentations from Semeiko and Morton about their work which will then be followed by a discussion.

There will be an amazing chance to sign up for one-to-one crit sessions with Andro Semeiko, Tom Morton and Andrew Hunt. This opportunity is open to artists who attend the talk.

A limited edition artist book with works by Amy McKenny, Tom Morton and Andro Semeiko will also be launched on the day.

We are taking bookings for the talk and one-to-one sessions at info@t-a-p.org.uk.

TAP
THE OLD WATERWORKS
NORTH ROAD
SOUTHEND ON SEA
SS0 7AB
info@t-a-p.org.uk
www.t-a-p.org.uk

Andro Semeiko - Only Words Can Tell You How I Feel

Monday 31 March to Sunday 27 April, Open Wed-Fri 10am - 4pm, Sat-Sun 11am - 5pm

‘Only Words Can Tell You How I Feel’ is the culmination of Andro Semeiko’s month long residency at TAP gallery and studios, selected by Andrew Hunt and Mike Nelson. The exhibition is a multi-layered exploration of a creative practitioner’s journey of thought, occupying five exhibition spaces at TAP with the seven-meter high winch room at its heart. The project delves into the past and present of TAP and its surrounding area, conflating fact and fiction, to produce rich and compelling narratives.

Semeiko worked closely with the TAP team and studio artists to generate a site responsive dramatisation of a creative journey. He has made a series of small portraits based on 18th and 19th century British portraits of writers, artists and magicians, relating them to creative practitioners at TAP studios. He interviewed the practitioners and solicited artist Amy McKenny to write a text from TAP’s collective voice based on the recordings. Semeiko used three of TAP’s gallery spaces for empirical research into three days of his own studio practice exploring gestures from J.M.W. Turner’s work, informed by his previous investigation into the ‘emotion-laden mark’ with cognitive psychologist Dr Lawrence Tailor. This concluded with a Dionysian feast in the main gallery space. While in the winch room a structure of a well has been recreated. Writer Tom Morton wrote an audio piece for it chronicling a journey of creative thought, using as a reference point a spirit living at the bottom of a well in Ray Bradbury’s ‘The One Who Waits’. 

more here:

info@androsemeiko.com

www.androsemeiko.com

 

ART: ANDRO SEMEIKO: PEER RESIDENCY 2013 (peeruk.org)

(peeruk.org) Friday 27 September from 6 to 8pm

Book launch with readings by the artist and authors Sally O'Reilly and Zinovy Zinik.

Detail from work in progress, 2013

London-based and Georgian born Semeiko’s primary activity is as a painter, but his interest lies in the complex construction of narrative installations that call upon the language of satire and the absurd through his work with writers and performers.

Semeiko has collaboratively employed the wordsmithing skills of writer and curator Sally O’Reilly and Russian novelist and broadcaster Zinovy Zinik, to concoct an array of references from which this project has evolved. Semeiko has identified intriguing kernels of historical information from the local area, which have sown seeds of free-associative and swashbuckling fancy.

One starting point has been an episode in Hoxton’s history when, in 1597 Ben Jonson purportedly killed fellow-actor Gabriel Spenser during a duel in a field on which now stands a council housing estate to the rear of PEER. Another rich seam that Semeiko has mined comes from his historical research into the life of Sir Thomas Tresham, a fanatical catholic who was held under house arrest at around the time of the fatal encounter between Jonson and Spencer on the spot where PEER now stands.

Discussions between Semeiko, O’Reilly and Zinik began with these two events, and then evolved and morphed into musings that span triangles, substantiation, rubbish chutes, drunkenness and scaffolding. Collapsing past, present and fictional Hoxton, O’Reilly and Zinik have produced texts that are being adapted by Felix Mortimer of Retz theatre company into short vignettes to be enacted by Bill Bingham at the beginning and end of the open studio week. This exercise in elaboration, excavation, embellishment and exegesis will be further explored throughout the open studio week.

During the open studio week a number of special events were held at the gallery:

Monday 8 April at 7pm
Performance by Bill Bingham adapted by him from texts by artist, writer and curator Sally O'Reilly and novelist and broadcaster Zinovy Zinik - Bill appears by kind permission of the director of Retz's The Trial, Felix Mortimer. Performance approx 15 mins.

Thursday 11 April 2 to 6pm
Drop-in drawing workshop led by Andro Semeiko as part of Hoxton Free Art School, in partnership with Shoreditch Trust.

Sunday 14 April from 3pm
Another chance to see Monday evening's performance by Bill Bingham followed by a tea break and an in conversation between Andro Semeiko and writer and critic JJ Charlesworth.

Andro Semeiko was born in Ozurgeti, Georgia and lives and works in London. He studied Fine Art at the Utrecht School of the Arts and did an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College. He completed his Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2006. Recent solo exhibitions and projects include Le Grand Charmer, Phoenix Gallery, Exeter (2012); Lily of Blythenhale, an artist's book with texts by Daniel Harbour, Shelley von Strunckel and others, and a related exhibition at Acme Project Space, London (2011); Against Anti Intellectualism: Andro Semeiko, Calum Stirling, +44 141 Gallery, SWG3, Glasgow (2011); Unveiling: Rocket MT2010 an artists book with texts by Neil Mulholland and JJ Charlesworth (2010) and Unveiling, Berwick Gymnasium Art Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed (2010). Group exhibitions include Take Shelter in the World, Boston University Art Gallery ANNEX, Boston (2012); Collaborators 3, ROOM Artspace, London (2012); Nor Corridor, Standpoint Gallery, London (2010); Happy End, Guest Projects, Yinka Shonibare's Space, London (2010) and Expanded Painting, Prague Biennale 4, Prague (2009).

www.androsemeiko.com

EXHIBITION: Andro Semeiko: Le Grand Charmer at Phoenix Gallery - Privet view 24 May (androsemeiko.com)

(androsemeiko.com) Friday 25 May - Sat 07 July, FREE Drawing on techniques and motifs both from the history of painting and its current precedents, Georgian born artist, Andro Semeiko’s painting-based practice extends into drawing, sculpture and installation. Constructing multilayered visual narratives, these elements operate as props for a Mise-en-scène or theatrical setting and are often site-specific, referencing the history, legends and architecture of the place he is exhibiting.


Here, he takes inspiration from a time when the river Exe was tidal and the city was a busy port. Portraits refer to works in the neighboring Royal Albert Memorial Museum, and wall drawings are inspired by Exeter’s Roman fortifications, medieval underground passageways and neo-classical architecture, including that of Exeter Phoenix itself.


Private view
Thursday 24 May, 6-7.30pm
Eye opener discussion
Wed 30 May, 1.30pm, FREE
Join in with an informal discussion about the exhibition in the gallery


Artist talk
Sat 23 June, 2.30pm, FREE
The artist will discuss his exhibition and wider practice


exeterPhoenix
Phoenix Gallery
Opening ours: 10am-5pm
www.exeterphoenix.org.uk


Café Bar: 10am-11pm
Food Available: Mon-Fri: 11:30am-3pm & 5pm-7:30pm and Sat: 11:30am -7:30pm
*exeterPhoenix is open for Family Sundays.

ARTIST BOOK: Unveiling: Rocket MT2010. By Andro Semeiko (androsemeiko.com)

Unveiling: Rocket MT2010

Andro Semeiko

Artist book Unveiling: Rocket MT2010 tells a linear narrative about secret creation of a space rocket designed to fly to Mars with layered visual meaning. It features images created and compiled by artist Andro Semeiko, and texts specially written by Neil Mulholland and JJ Charlesworth. The blueprint and model of the Rocket MT2010 is developed in collaboration with Pierre Maré Architects and aircraft engineer Simon Heald. It is edited and published in collaboration with Basement Art Projects.

48 pages, edition of 1000, each copy is signed by the artist.

ISBN 978-0-9565406-0-7

Andro Semeiko is a Georgian artist living and working in London. He graduated from Goldsmiths College in 2001 and Royal Academy of Arts in 2006. Semeiko has exhibited widely in the UK and Europe including New Contemporaries, Camden Arts Centre, London 2001; Shine, The Lowry, Manchester 2002; Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam 2008; Expander Painting, Prague Biennale 2009 and Happy End, Yinka Shonibare’s Space, London 2010.

Dr. Neil Mulholland is an art historian, critic, curator and artist. His research focuses on contemporary art practice and theory with particular emphasis on creative ecologies, artwriting and ambient cultures. His essays have been featured in a number of books and art magazines. Mulholland is Associate Head of the School of Art and Programme Leader of MA Contemporary Art Theory at Edinburgh College of Art.

JJ Charlesworth has been writing about contemporary art since he left Goldsmiths College London in 1996, where he studied art. He now writes regularly on contemporary art for magazines such as Art Monthly, Modern Painters, Time Out London and ArtReview magazine, where he works as associate editor. He is a tutor in painting at the Royal College of Art, and is currently researching a doctoral thesis on British art criticism in the 1970s.

£14.00 +p.p.

To purchase the book from bookshops

Artwords Bookshop: 22 Broadway Market, Dalston, London E8 4QJ +44(0)2079237507

The Fruitmarket Gallery Bookshop: 45 Market Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1DF +44(0)1312252383

or contact info@basementartprojects.org

Published on the occasion of the exhibition

Unveiling

Andro Semeiko

3 April -23 May 2010

Berwick Gymnasium Art Gallery

Berwick-upon-Tweed

For more information, please visit www.basementartprojects.org/unveiling

EXHIBITION: Unveiling - Andro Semeiko (artrabbit.com)

3. Apr - 23. May 10 / ends in 49 days
Gymnasium Art Gallery
Free
Opening times: 11am - 5pm, Wednesday - Sunday

Andro Semeiko has made the body of work to document the secret creation of a space rocket designed to fly to Mars. Built by a secret society, work began underground in the 17th Century and has been ongoing for three centuries to meet the launch date sometime this year! The secret society has employed experienced miners from the Forest of Dean, who had previously helped the English to capture Berwick-upon-Tweed from the Scots in the thirteenth century. The miners have dug tunnels that stretch under the river Tweed to the village of Spittal, which is to be the actual point where Rocket MT2010 has been constructed. Specially trained rhinos were also shipped in from India to help out with the excavations. The final preparations for the first flight of the Rocket MT2010 are about to commence. The secret society will select fifteen lucky people from Berwick-upon-Tweed to man the rocket on its maiden voyage. They will experience the lovingly crafted Mock Tudor rocket, where things are on a miniature scale but have a grand appearance! Every detail of the rocket has been considered by the secret society. For example, the crewmembers’ urine will be reworked into a delicious drink and their nail clipping will be processed into spacey porridge. The secret society has integrated itself into all levels of the community, enabling them to deny and cover up any rumours that the chimney at Spittal point is in fact the tip of their rocket. Can anyone stop the launch of this Mock Tudor rocket? What is the secret society’s unknown quest to Mars? And why are the people of Berwick-upon-Tweed being offered this unique experience?

Project Unveiling consists of an installation in the Gymnasium Gallery and an artist book publication. The installation contains paintings, sculptures, drawings, blueprints, models, a slideshow and several items from Berwick Museum and Art Gallery. It operates in contemporary art context by using mechanisms of archival documentation as well as theatrical methods of delivering a narrative. The blueprints of the Rocket MT2010 are developed in collaboration with Pierre Maré Architects. Life size model of the rocket is built in collaboration with aircraft engineer Simon Heald. Artist book Unveiling: Rocket MT2010, 48 pages, edition of 500, tells a linear narrative with layered visual meaning. It features images created and compiled by Andro Semeiko, and texts specially written by Neil Mulholland and JJ Charlesworth. It is edited and published in collaboration with Basement Art Projects.

Andro Semeiko is a Georgia artist living and working in London. Exhibition Unveiling is part of his Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship 09/10. Semeiko studied at Tbilisi State Academy of Arts (1998), HKU, Utrecht (2000), Goldsmiths College (2001) and Royal Academy of Arts, London (2006). He has exhibited in New Contemporaries 2001, Camden Arts Centre and Sunderland Museum (2001); Shine, The Lowry, Manchester (2002); Sotheby’s Auction, London (2007); Two Hopes, Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, Georgia (2007); Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam (2008); Expander Painting, Prague Biennale (2009). He was awarded Kunstanjer 2000 (NL) and British Institution Prize 2004.

androsemeiko.com/unveiling

EXHIBITION: Georgian Artists in PRAGBIENNALE4 (praguebiennale.org)

Maka Razmadze's work

Georgian artists Lado Pochkhua and Andro Semeiko

George Kevle's Luxenburg and Georgia

photo gallery - PragBienale 4 >>>

www.praguebiennale.org