Yuri Grigoryevich Avalishvili

Gallery 'Ta-is', Moscow; Gallery 'Aktsiya', Central House of Artists, Moscow; 'Expo', Baltimore, USA; Gallery 'Olga', Hammer Center, Moscow; Gallery 'Andrey and Mikhail', Expo Center, Krasnaya Presnya, Moscow; Gallery 'Nikor', Moscow; Gallery 'M`ARS', Moscow; in private collections in Russia, Switzerland, USA, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and others.

1988 Spring Exhibition of the Artists' Union. Tbilisi; 1988 Autumn Exhibition of the Georgian Artists' Union. Tbilisi; 1989 Spring Exhibition of the Georgian Artists' Union. Tbilisi; 1989 Autumn Exhibition of the Georgian Artists' Union. Tbilisi; 1990 Spring Exhibition of the Georgian Artists' Union. Tbilisi; 1990 Exhibition dedicated to '9 April'. Tbilisi; 1991 'Golden Brush.' Central House of Artists. Moscow; 1991 'Space and Spirit.' Moscow; 1991 Art Auction. Cyprus. Greece; 1991 Series of sale exhibitions in gallery 'TA-IS', Moscow; 1991 Series of exhibitions in gallery 'AKTSIYA'. Central House of Artists. Moscow; 1991 Sale exhibition in gallery 'MARS'. Moscow; 1991 Exhibition in the Association 'Art of the Peoples of the World'. Moscow; 1991 Exhibition in gallery 'Nikor'. Moscow; 1991 Series of sale exhibitions in Sovintcenter in gallery 'OLGA', Moscow; 1992 Art Fair 'ART MIF 2'. Central Exhibition Hall 'Manege'. Moscow; 1992 Series of 9 sale exhibitions in gallery 'AKTSIYA'. Moscow; 1992 Exhibition of works by Russian artists 'EXPO'. Baltimore, USA; 1992 Series of exhibitions 'TA-IS'. Moscow; 1992 Series of sale exhibitions in gallery 'MARS'. Moscow; 1992 Sale exhibition in gallery 'Nikor'. Moscow; 1992 'Hammer Center' Sovintcenter, gallery 'OLGA'. Moscow; 1992 'Andrey and Mikhail'. 'Expo Center'. Moscow; 1993-1999 did not exhibit; 2000 'ART-SALON-2000'. Central House of Artists, Moscow; 2000 'Golden Brush'. Central House of Artists, Moscow; 2000 'Master Class'. Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; 2000 Exhibition in 'Vykhino'. Moscow; 2000 Solo exhibition in gallery 'Nikor'. Moscow.

I see the problem differently. Life in a big city deprives a person of opportunities to meet their needs, and at the same time creates constant stress because the urban organization of space and time contradicts one's natural rhythms. This stress is overwhelming! Compensating for it is a real vital need for a person.

Born in Tbilisi but long residing in Moscow, Yuri Avalishvili creates compositions whose eclecticism possesses a reactive force that consistently acts over time. The viewer seems to find themselves in the sphere of a 'nozzle,' carried away into the artist's multi-layered, rich and interconnected world. The tension of his artistic power, always on the verge of bursting, compels the viewer to focus, anticipating the sudden birth of new artistic meanings. What happens on Avalishvili's canvases truly continues to unfold, and the fact that the viewer's gaze appears held is a smaller, but still significant, illusion. It is truly difficult for the eye to restrain the images—the works possess a hidden reactive force, propelling thought with sharp bursts of associative matter. The artist's style can be described as post-cubist realism. He does not decompose the form but dissolves it in its activating content, letting it soak up the active substance of existence like a sponge, which almost shows through on the surface. As for color, its active participation in the composition is felt even where it is not overtly visible. When one fragment of the canvas, closer to an energetic color source, seems to radiate all its spiritual power onto another. The border conflicts in Yuri Avalishvili's electric world are resolved not in favor of coexistence, but for internal indivisibility. Only in this way can one, while staying at the point where everything is open, merge with the artistic reality being created, making the most contradictory border—the division between the artist and his work—conditional. Alexander Weinstein. Member of the Union of Writers, freelance contributor to the newspaper 'Kultura'.

Exhibition catalogue 'Space and Spirit', Moscow, 1991; Catalogue of the international art fair 'CDX-2000', Central House of Artists, Moscow, 2000; Exhibition catalogue 'Golden Brush', Central House of Artists, Moscow, 2000; Brochure for the 'Master Class' exhibition, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, 2000; Journal 'Artistic Council', No. 2 (14), 2000.