Georgian artist Mishiko Sulakauri incorporated motifs from his home country and Somerville into he recently completed at Warehouse XI in Union Square last week. — Photo by Rachel Strutt

By Jeffrey Shwom

International artist Mishiko Sulakauri debuted his Georgian and Somerville-influenced street art outside Warehouse XI in Union Square last Wednesday. Sulakauri, a 2025 Artist in Residence at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, interwove home country influences with his newfound affection for Somerville. He painted surrealistic sketches like a horse holding an umbrella, Prospect Hill Tower, his signature inclusion of a lamb, a left-handed graffiti artist, and an evil, mythological dragon creature called a gveleshapi with Georgian pictograms.

His work includes pop images, a biblical reference to the apple from Genesis, and an umbrella referencing this rainy spring, with the intent of having something for everybody.

Sulakauri connects images from his home in Tbilisi to Somerville and his US experience. “We have a lot of huge wine culture in Georgia. It’s a very old ancient culture, like 8,000 years.” Hence, the fictional monster Godzilla is blowing fire and holding grapes over Prospect Hill Tower, and the first American flag raised by George Washington. Then, there’s the sheep riding the horse and a flag with the English word, an attempt at some animal fun.

“My surname comes from a high mountainous region where there are only sheep and people. When I was a teenager, I started to paint the sheep all around the town to become some kind of an urban shepherd.” He was raised in the capital city and worked under the street name “LAMB.” His work with sheep was included in an exhibit by street artist and activist Banksy.

Before he arrived, he had different ideas of what he wanted to sketch. Once he got to the States, it all changed.

The Warehouse XI mural. — Photo courtesy of Mishiko Sulakauri

“I create my art based on my surroundings and based on my environment. Doing the sketches in Georgia, in my hometown of Tbilisi, was totally different, totally different vibes. The U.S. is a place where you feel a lot of freedom and you feel that you can… let’s say do whatever you want.” He wanted the newly minted characters to be “very surrealistic, very uh funky,” layered with meaning and a lot of fun. His experience in Somerville really drew him in, too.

“I love architecture. I love the rich history that it has.” He praised “how art works in this neighborhood” and the great vibes. Recently, there was a jazz festival at Arts at The Armory. He realized it was right down the street from him. “This is good news when you want to receive art.” For him, whether it is passing by Somerville Theatre or hearing music at Warehouse XI, “as an artist and an art lover, it’s cozy to be so close with art.”
The mural is on display at Warehouse XI, 11 Sanborn Ct, down the street between The Independent and BRONWYN in Union Square.

This is the third Exchanging Notes project run in partnership between the Somerville Arts Council and the Davis Center. Last September, the cultural exchange project featured “Dance and Drums from Somerville and Tbilisi, Georgia” with dancers Claire Lane and Lasha Mdzinarashvili and percussionists George Oniani and Marcus Santos at The Hive at Boynton Yards. The 2023 project featured writers and musicians traveling to each other’s countries to work on their art.