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Bearded Man  2015  oil on linen  52x76 in.  (132.1x193 cm)
In Soviet-ruled Georgia, God and priests were out of the picture. We were atheists. When the USSR broke down, the country was engulfed in civil war, anarchy and crime. Hopelessness brought back the belief in God. Men of my generation found refuge in old churches, grew long beards and turned themselves into priests. The government, needing to control people, started pouring money into building new churches. The “reborn” religion made these priests into powerful influencers and owners of the expensive cars and lands.   Priests chased and beat up defenders of gay rights, using crucifixes as weapons. They stormed the movie theaters that showed movies depicting the lives of the gay population. Everything changes: thinking, dress codes, technologies.I keep questioning why images of the men in long gowns and with long beards still have so much power to manipulate the brains of humans and set the rules among different nations, religions and people.