I'd like to think of this project as Instagram of the past. I'm going to post photos along with blurbs and maybe tell a little about myself.
This image is of Rustavi, Georgia, from a hill tens of kilometers away. I’ve been living in this country, Georgia, for nearly two years now. How did I end up here? I ask myself that question often.
I came here for fun in the beginning of 2022. I was working in real estate in Manhattan and hated it. I had just changed companies, from a tiny brokerage in Ridgewood with a great manager to a soulless office high rise in the city. I sold my car and booked a one way ticket to the other side of the world.
I landed in Tbilisi with no plan. I spent about a month wandering around. I thought about opening a coffee shop (luckily I didn’t). Instead, I opened an art gallery (even worse decision). Thus, in a basement on the corner of Kekelidze and Paliashvili Street, Dissolution was born.
I did everything wrong. Hired the wrong person, did the wrong marketing, surrounded myself with people who didn’t share my interests. I learned a lot about business, money and life. I put too much trust in people I barely knew. I just wanted to do something. I thought about quitting a thousand times. I did quit publicly, only to then become inspired a week later.
Okay, I didn’t do everything wrong. We had a few great exhibitions, one even sold out. We participated in Tbilisi Art Fair in 2022. I’ve sold some of my own work. I started a moderately successful import business. I discovered myself and my identity. I learned how to better screen people and how not to jump into things head first with strangers.
So, friends (and enemies), join me on this journey. More next week.