Armen Gevorkian

Biography:
Born in 1958 Yerevan, Armenia
1980 Graduated from Yerevan State Pedagogical Institute named after Kh. Abovian (Fine Arts Department)
1992 Member of the Union of Artists of Armenia
1980 A constant participant of republican and international group exhibitions

Group Exhibitions:
2016 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, with Galeri 77, Istanbul, Turkey
2015 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, with Galeri 77, Istanbul, Turkey
2014 Beauty in the Palm, Beirut, Lebanon
2014 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, with Galeri 77, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 Sensual Revelations, Beirut, Lebanon
2013 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, with Galeri 77, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 Ten Year Anniversary of Arame Art Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2012 Symphony of Colors, Beirut, Lebanon
2012 Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, with Galeri 77, Istanbul, Turkey
2012 Grand Opening of a new Art Centre of Arame Art Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2011 UNESCO Palace, Beirut, Lebanon
2010 New Masterpieces, Arame Art Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2010 Art Center of Haigazian University, Beirut, Lebanon
2007 Orangerie du Luxembourg Musee d`Art Moderne d'Armenie, Paris, France
2005 At the crossroad of civilization - Contemporary Art in Armenia, Bel-Air Fine Art Gallery, Genève, Switzerland
2001 Art Vienna, Vienna, Austria
2000 Duncan Kampbell Gallery, London, UK
1999 Third International Kunstmesse, Innsbruck, Austria
1999 International Art Exhibition, Salzburg, Austria
1999 Lineart, Gent, Belgium
1998 Center of Borjes, Argentina
1998 Group Exhibition, Brazil
1997 Igitian Modern Art Gallery, Las Vegas, USA
1997 Armenian Modern Art, Cyprus
1997 Post-Soviet Armenian Art, Uruguay
1996 Amberd Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
1996 Alec Manoukian Art Gallery, Detroit, USA
1995 Emagos Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
1994 Drovot Auction Exhibition, Paris, France
1994 Group Exhibition, Beirut, Lebanon
1993 Armenian Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden
1992 Exhibition of Armenian Modern Art, Jerusalem, Israel

Personal Exhibitions:
2006 Himmelberger Gallery, San Francisco, USA
2003 Vinizki Gallery, Munich, Germany
2002 Europe Gallery, Palo Alto, California, USA
2001 Vinizki Gallery, Munich, Germany
2001 Europe Gallery, Palo Alto, California, USA
2000 Vinizki Gallery, Munich, Germany
1999 Vinizki Gallery, Munich, Germany
1996 Armenian Society for Cultural Relations, Yerevan, Armenia

Bibliography:
2012 Symphony of Colors, catalogue, Arame Art Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon
2010 New Masterpieces, catalogue, Arame Art Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2009 [rba] magazine, June issue
2008 I colori Dell’ Armenia, catalogue
2005 At the crossroad of civilization - Contemporary Art in Armenia, catalogue, Bel-Air Fine Art Gallery, Genève, Switzerland
2005 Armenian Palette. New Generation, album
2001 Art in America magazine, February issue
2001 Gevorkian, catalogue, Europa Gallery, Palo Alto, California, USA
2000 Armen Gevorkian, catalogue, text by H. Igityan

The works are displayed at Modern Art Museum of Armenia, Bel-Air Fine Art Gallery (Genève, Switzerland), Arame Art Gallery (Yerevan, Armenia), Vinizki Gallery (Munich, Germany), Europe Gallery (Palo Alto, California, USA) and in private collections in USA, Germany, Switzerland, Lebanon, France, Turkey.

Reviews:
      What attracts one’s attention at first sight is that the paintings of Armen Gevorkian reflect an individuality that is impossible to attain. It seems that everything has already been done, seen and experienced in figurative art and it becomes difficult to avoid the fate of becoming some appendage of famous analogues. But Armen is an artist who could never accept the role of being a satellite, which we feel from both his unusual, exceptional handwriting and irrational way of thinking.
      Devoid of daylight in his boxlike studio, completely isolated from outward life, Armen travels with his personages, moving from one painting to another. He changes the surroundings and situations, never leaving this rather strange, nonexistent, organic and native state, and never wishing to emigrate. The neatness and order he has established here are worthy of respect; there is no spontaneity, nothing from Bohemian chaos or artistic disorder, but at the same time not a bit of mathematical coldness.
      Armen is one of those artists who breaks the mold of stereotypical, multicolored, Armenian painting. However, in spite of restrained coloring, his paintings do not contain tragic or dramatic elements – they are calm and contemplative.
      There are several themes repeatedly attracting the artist’s attention and creative energy: Horsewoman, Combat, Butterfly Hunters, Games, Shooting Range, and others; but one can never find mechanical reiteration in these paintings. Each time he shares new experiences, new sensations with his characters; he lets them ripen and then perfects and enriches his creations.
      The outline of his plot in these unique one act performances is concentrated on the focal point. These laconic, apparently theatrical stories are just games of a grown-up – neither infantile, nor naive. They are mediations of a kind dramatist who prefers to see conflicts only on stage.
      The gaming table often becomes a battlefield where the roll of the dice, draw of a card or stroke of a billiard cue determines the outcome of the contest. The contests of Gevorkian are not bloody combats; they illustrate the eternal opposition which we all encounter in a myriad of disguises every day. The egg often appears as a symbol of something valuable. Armen uses the egg as the prize for the victor of the battle, just as we fight the contests of life for symbols of wealth and status.
      The accessories that the artist operates with often include: women, eggs, games, metallic looking horses, pointed caps, flowers, easels – all of these objects make up the strange and extraordinary world of Armen Gevorkian.

Excerpts by Henrik Igitiyan and David Himmelberger

***
      His pictures – are the windows into the world of small dynamics, slow movements, but not of cool passion at all. The air is clear, but it is fresh and chilly. Landscapes seem to be from “The Martian Chronicles”. Personages are elegant and full of inner dignity. And always preoccupied, in each situation – life is a hard and an intricate thing.

Karen Mikaelian

***
      Billiard –  is a symbol of temporal and spatial extent of life. The billiard field is as green as the land. And here on this green field we see the action. The everlasting heat of the toy battle has provoked it. And in this artificial world of restraint and cataclysms are scattered vessels with life – eggs, to keep hope that the most perfect, the most alive life will hatch out.

Armen Gevorkian