Goudji

In collaboration with the radio des cinq académies de l’Institut de France (Canal Académie)

Both intellectual and sensitive, Goudji’s art is modern alchemy, a transmutation of that we must choose and subdue before breathing life into this spirit which gives it power and beauty, equilibrium and timelessness.A contemporary witness of past eras and archeologist of the present, Goudji recalls, recreates, transforms and suggests. His point of reference is no longer daily life, but eternity.
Jacques Santrot
Head Curator of the Musées de Loire-Atlantique
Director of the Thomas Dobrée Museum in Nantes

Goudji, the magic of a great goldsmith.
Goudji is like his works: from the outside, he has a patina of gentleness like the metal that he caresses, and inside, he is devoured by the fire of creation and melting metal. Goudji transcends time and defies beauty. He is not a prisoner of a fashion, an art; he is outside of time.
Patricia Dewames
Château-Musée de Seneffe

The Speaker

Goldsmith and sculptor, Goudji was born in Georgia in 1941, near the site of the myth of the Golden Fleece. He studied in the sculpture department at the School of Fine Arts in Tbilisi from 1958 to 1962.  In 1962, he left Georgia for Moscow where he began his career as a sculptor and ran up against his first obstacle. As an artist born behind the Iron Curtain, he dreamed of becoming a goldsmith in the then Soviet Union. Gold and silver could only be processed in a factory, though, never by individuals. In order to forge his first work, Goudji was forced to melt down two spoons inherited from this grandfather.

In 1974, he settled in France thanks to the assistance of French President Georges Pompidou and then he was finally able to realize his dream of creating decorative objects in precious metals by himself.   Because of his Byzantine education, he is fascinated by Paleo-Christian, Roman and Gothic art. His approach is sculptor by training; he wants to create only unique pieces, produced by his own hands, without ever using techniques which would allow for the reproduction of the work. As a goldsmith, he combines the technique of copper wear with inlaying semi-precious stones in metal, an innovation that he alone developed.

His work quickly became known and, in 1976, he was approached to create and produce the sword for the Academician Félicien Marceau [of the Académie Française]. From then on, Goudji has created fourteen Academician swords, a great number of jewels and approximately one hundred sculptures in gold, silver and semi-precious stones.

His works have been shown in large, one-man exhibitions in art galleries and museums in France and abroad, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs [Museum of Decorative Arts] in Paris and Lyon, at the Musée du Château de Blois in France, and at the Musée du Vatican in Rome. In the past few years, Goudji has converted several cathedral and church sanctuaries, including the cathedral in Chartres and Notre-Dame in Paris.

The Lecture

Atypical Path of an Artist Born Behind the Iron Curtain
This lecture is a video projection in which Goudji speaks about his works of art: jewelry, academician swords, liturgical works and furniture…

The video lecture recounts several intertwined stories: the story of the artist, of an art, and of the objects that he exhibits. The slides are arranged in chronological order: Goudji first creates art banned in the former USSR, and then develops his craft in the West. Through the exploration of his studio and his imagination, Goudji reveals his universe over the past thirty-some years.

Goudji’s art is produced thanks to original techniques which are constantly being renewed. The coherence of his works, however, brings together contradictory levels: the relationship between materials and the function of objects on the one hand, and the symbolic and imaginary levels on the other, even though these objects may be intended for personal, secular, or sacred use.

Link to an interview of Goudji on the radio des cinq académies de l’Institut de France (Canal Académie):
http://www.canalacademie.com/Goudji-et-les-epees-d-academiciens.html?var_recherche=goudji

Link to a documentary film about Goudji: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YvxaOMmwdw

Link to Goudji’s website: www.goudji.com

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