Paul Kondas & Thea Gvetadze 'Unfolding Nuptials'

Paul Kondas, Thea Gvetadze
Unfolding Nuptials

Exhibition on view: February 5, 2026 – April 11, 2026
Location: Temnikova & Kasela, Peetri 12, Tallinn 10415

Temnikova & Kasela Gallery is proud to present group exhibition by Estonian self-taught artist Paul Kondas and Georgian artist Thea Gvetadze. The exhibition is curated by Vija Skangale.

The exhibition features two artists who lived in different geographies, times, and environments and never met. However, the ability to see the world through a lens of truth and unmasked perception is what distinguishes and brings together Paul and Thea. While Thea’s artistic practice reveals honest realities and hidden layers that often escape the gaze of the average observer, Paul’s paintings disclose the complexities of life—signs of resistance, whispers of dissent, and the quiet passions that drive human connection. Often unnoticed, they also expose the truth about political systems and relationships. 

The two rooms constructed for this exhibition marry the artistic values and experiences of Paul and Thea, placing them on parallel paths, despite their different contexts. At the heart of this project is the embodiment of connections, which unites the two artists and weaves together invisible networks that transcend the constraints of time, distance, and political systems. These connections have the power to create an environment free from the divisions present in today's world. This exhibition showcases the coexistence of two artistic practices, filled with hope, truth, and possibility, creating a tapestry of revelations and connections.

Thea’s homage to Paul Kondas’s legacy results in the creation of project-based works, including textiles, mosaics, paintings, and installations for this exhibition, following a research trip to Estonia in August 2025. 

Thea Gvetadze (born 1971, Riga) is a Georgian contemporary artist living and working in Tbilisi. She studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, and the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Working across painting, ceramics, textiles, installation, and mixed media, Gvetadze creates emotionally charged, symbolic works that merge personal narrative, mythology, and material experimentation. Her practice is known for its tactile intensity and poetic ambiguity. Gvetadze has exhibited widely across Europe and Georgia and has participated in the Venice Biennale, alongside numerous international museum and gallery exhibitions in cities such as Antwerp, Berlin, Warsaw, and Tbilisi.Her recent solo exhibitions include Room for many (with Diana Tamane), Art House Tartu, Tartu (2024); Iris Iberica, LC Queisser (2022); Subtropical Ushguli, LC Queisser, Tbilisi (2019); Thea Gvetadze – Becoming Thea Merlani, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (2018); Zeda Tsinsvla, Gallery Nectar, Tbilisi (2017). 

Paul Kondas (1900–1985) was an Estonian self-taught painter, celebrated as a significant figure in naïve art for his unique visual language blending myth, daily life, and philosophical reflection. Trained in law and commerce, he worked as a schoolteacher and was a polymath with interests in poetry, music, and photography. Despite his contributions being overlooked during his lifetime, his paintings, often created in isolation during his retirement, served as visual parables rich with symbolism and irony, addressing themes like human desire and historical trauma. Recognition came later, notably through a 1979 documentary and an entry in the World Encyclopedia of Naïve Art in 1984. His works are now primarily housed in Viljandi, symbolizing his legacy as a quietly radical artist who thrived outside conventional artistic frameworks.

Vija Skangale is a writer, curator, and researcher from Georgia currently based between Tbilisi and London. She is a PhD candidate and a visiting lecturer at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.  Her practice lies between research and curated exhibitions & performances (including performance re-enactments). Her research focuses on the exhibition histories within the context of post-socialist transitions. She examines under-documented performance practices and exhibition histories in Georgia, aiming to broaden our understanding of performance-making during significant cultural and political transformation. In 2025, she founded the Institute for Contemporary Art Research in Georgia.
 

This exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.