Teona Yamanidze was born on March 3, 1988, in Moscow into a family of Georgian emigrants, Teona has been painting since childhood. She graduated from an art school in Moscow and went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in Painting from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 2009. In 2015, she moved to New York under the Fulbright Program and began her studies at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, where she obtained her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Painting in 2018. Throughout her academic journey, she was awarded numerous prestigious fellowships, including grants from the Muskie Program and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
The artist explores themes such as identity, collective memory, displacement, and alienation. Her work frequently depicts women affected by conflict or recovering from traumatic events.
The artist has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including Berlin Art Week and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Her work was featured in the Everson Museum of Art’s project “That Day Now: Shadows of Hiroshima,” dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Japan. Between 2017 and 2018, she participated in several group exhibitions in New York and Chicago galleries. In 2018, she presented her work at the Chicago Biennale—a portrait of a young bride titled “Hidden.” In 2019, a solo exhibition of Teona Yamanidze’s work was held at the Consulate General of Georgia in New York City. In 2022, she held an exhibition titled “Grain of Sand” at the Art Gallery in Kachreti, Georgia. The exposition brought together the personal experiences of migrant Georgian women affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. In 2024, her exhibition “Apocalypse, reflections” was held at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Tbilisi; followed by the 2024 exhibition “Who’s the Muse” at the Palo Gallery in New York, NY, USA. In 2024 and 2025, she held exhibitions at the VCA art space in Melbourne, Australia. Teona Yamanidze currently lives and works in Melbourne.
