Luka Kurashvili (b. 1985, Tbilisi, Georgia) is a painter based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Kurashvili’s work navigates the space between observation and emotion, realism and reverie. Often rooted in quick watercolors or photographic studies of friends, relatives, and fellow artists, his large-scale paintings are constructed like film scenes - figures cast, rearranged, and collaged into compositions that feel both intimate and uncanny. Disruptions in perspective and logic allow for psychological ambiguity, where the relationship between figure and ground remains fluid.
Luka Kurashvili paints the tension between stillness and story - where something just happened or is about to. A smoke break turns cinematic, a glance becomes a warning, a quiet bar hums with low-grade drama. These postcards capture the beauty of the in-between: hangovers, half-truths, near kisses, and exits not yet made. For the ones who stay too late, feel too much, or say just enough.
His work has been shown internationally, with solo exhibitions including Closer than before (NotFor$ale, Basel, 2024), Shouting quiet moments (Wilson Saplana Gallery, Copenhagen, 2023), No strangers beyond the pictures (NotFor$ale, Basel, 2023), People and imaginary Places (Praxis, Basel, 2022), The smokers (Gallery Ten Haaf Projects, Amsterdam, 2021), and earlier solo shows at Ten Haaf Projects dating back to 2012. Group shows include DIE GROSSE (Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 2022), BASEL SOCIAL CLUB (2023), The future has an orange background (NotFor$ale, Basel, 2023), Gates to the garden (ES365, Düsseldorf, 2022), Klasse Doig (Display Gallery, London, 2014), and Paintings and Films (Parkhaus im Malkastenpark, Düsseldorf, 2011), among others.
