Triptych @ café Praktica 2024

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This triptych was painted specifically for the café Praktica. I was commissioned to create it by Giorgi Khasaia, one of the co-founders of the "ხმა" ("Voice") People’s Café movement. His idea was to transformatively reintroduce modernist artists into the café space. Praktica is a Marxist-themed café designed to support and give a voice to the proletarian class. It hosts students, workers, and musicians and initiates artist talks, literary and social events, along with weekly lectures and workshops.
Giorgi’s first reference was Diego Rivera, whose work I have long admired. The image I chose to reinterpret is located in Rivera Court at the Detroit Institute of Arts. It is part of Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals—a series of frescoes consisting of twenty-seven panels. This particular mural, painted in Grisaille style, is on the south wall below the main panel. It depicts Henry Ford teaching students about the V-8 engine in a trade school class. In this depiction, the V-8 engine is transformed into a mechanical dog, resembling the ancient Mexican Colima dog.
I had taken a photo of this mural back in 2009. At that time, I was working on a series of paintings titled "Media-Dog," where TV sets dominate our living rooms. These media dogs not only entertain us but also teach and lecture us, acting as technological storytellers. "Media-Dogs" serve as both overpowering media agents and babysitters. For nearly a century, we have allowed these "media dogs" into our homes, letting them hypnotise us. This concept links the image of storytellers and listeners from different eras—from the traditional campfire story to the evolution of technological screen storytellers of today.

The triptych café Praktica includes Rivera's transformation of the original Grisaille into a colourful painting. The first piece is “Techno-Dog,” the second is a “Media-Dog,” depicting students watching TV sets, and the third features a cornucopia—a mythological symbol of abundance—that represents modern food production technology. This symbol connects to the original idea of factory production and the assembly line, bridging the gap between myth and modernity.
 

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