kaufmann repetto is pleased to announce Notes on light and sound of objects, the first solo exhibition of Thea Djordjadze with kaufmann repetto in New York, and her third with the gallery.

Working in-situ, as is the case throughout all of Djordjadze’s practice, materials and objects are placed by the artist so as to respond to the space in real time; a sort of private performance, witnessed solely as a remnant of the action. Throughout her installation-based practice, architectural elements (such as shelves or platforms) and sculptures may appear as the form of containers or objects of display, but they are often in fact the object(s) on display; the function of container and contained are fused together, one and the same.

Seemingly in didactic conversation with her formal training in the academy tradition, Djordjadze utilizes various materials including metal armature and plaster, which are also the same structural elements supporting the interiors of classical sculpture and architecture. In critically alluding to canonical perceptions of form and beauty, Djordjadze generates a de-hierarchization between interiority and exteriority. The overall presence of the artist’s gesture, often through the pairing and combination of objects –almost as if a collage in space— invites the viewer to construct an empathetic relationship with the work.

Thea Djordjadze (b. 1971, Tbilisi, Georgia) obtained a Master in Fine Art under Rosemarie Trockel at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and currently lives and works in Berlin. Her work has recently been the subject of solo exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland; Portikus, Frankfurt; Pinakothek der Moderne Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich; La Triennale Museum, Milan; Seccesion, Vienna; MOMA PS1, New York; South London Gallery, London; MIT List Visual Art Center, Cambridge; Mudam Musee d’art Moderne, Luxembourg; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen; Kunstverein Lingen Kusnthalle, Lingen; Kölnischer Kunstverein; Malmö Konsthall; Kunstverein Nurnberg; Kunsthalle Basel; among others. Her work has been featured at international exhibitions such as the Georgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2013); documenta (13), Kassel, (2012); Lyon Biennale (2008); Berlin Biennial for Contemporary art (2008); and Venice Biennale (2003). Her work will be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Gropius Bau, Berlin, opening September 2020.