Photography Exhibition IRIS ARLES – David Meskhi

IRIS ARLES presents an exhibition by Georgian photographer David Meskhi during the Rencontres d’Arles 2025 with the works exhibited at the the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain – Saint-Étienne Métropole for his exhibition “Our Son, My Moon.”

Meskhi says since childhood gymnasiums have been a place of fascination for the artist, whose father was a coach for the former Soviet Union’s national gymnastics team.

Currently based in Berlin (Germany), the photographer was invited to SaintÉtienne for a residency, followed by an exhibition at the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, which was labeled by Paris 2024 as part of the Olympiade Culturelle.

His works illustrate the physical expression of the young athletes on the ground, or when they seem to float above the trampolines or seem suspended in the air as they climb.

From religious paintings to Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films, “levitation” continues to evoke unique emotions in us. Rather than the dynamism of levitation or the excitement it generates, Meskhi’s work is a quiet representation of figures, as if fixed in a moment of greatest freedom from gravity. The athletes are enveloped by the soft light shining into the gym, giving the impression of a kind of grace or blessing as well.

In 2015, Meskhi co-directed a documentary film “When the Earth Seems to Be Light” about skaters in Georgia. Skateboarding continues to hold an iconic place in the culture for decades. It is also a cultural practice that ensures resilience and champions participation and the values of community.

Meskhi’s images illuminate this dynamic vectoring of movements, of skateboarding or gymnastics, which can be seen as a form of youth passion or as a representation of resistance to external pressures.