Untitled 2022

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this untitled drawing in 2022, using what looks like ink and colored pencil on paper. The marks are so raw, so immediate; you get the sense of the artist thinking right onto the page. I’m struck by the figure at the center, almost childlike in its simplicity, yet it's holding up signs with names of conflict zones: "Not Iraq," "Not Aleppo," "Not Serbia." The red and black scribbles feel like bursts of anger or pain, a raw expression of the world's endless conflicts. Look at the little buildings at the bottom, under attack, with those tiny red flames. It's like the whole world is on fire, but rendered with this fragile, almost innocent touch. Kakhidze's drawing reminds me of artists like Philip Guston, who embraced a kind of messy, cartoonish style to grapple with serious themes. Like Guston, Kakhidze isn’t afraid to be vulnerable, to let the rawness of her emotions show. Art isn't about answers, it's about wrestling with the questions.