After the Vote

In After the Vote, Gela Mikava approaches the painted surface as a wall carrying the remains of political speech. The large painting evokes a place where election posters have been pasted, covered and left to deteriorate. Torn paper, dark washes and partially legible writing make the aftermath of a public promise visible through the condition of the surface.

They Left Us Flags brings fragmented writing and attached paper into a red-brown field. Outlined hands and partially obscured figures surround the paper fragments, where the words “THEY LEFT US FLAGS” and “NOT FOOD” connect public symbols with material needs.

Two smaller, untitled paintings developed alongside the larger work bring printed Georgian text into fields of green, pink and violet. Cut and torn passages change direction, overlap and become partially obscured. The words remain connected to a specific political context while their fragmentation interrupts a straightforward reading.

Across the four works, political language persists as material: something attached, covered, damaged and left behind. The wall is both an image and a way of constructing the painting, where one layer does not entirely replace what came before.