Mais Mkhitaryan

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A powerful theatrical sense and an innate playfulness fill this world of wandering circuses, colorful bazaars, and artists’ lives


Mais Mkhitaryan creates elegant court scenes with a Surrealist twist, where, for example, beautifully gowned ladies may carry on their coiffures ribboned hats containing exotic birds and fish. It is not surprising to learn that Mkhitaryan has been active in film as an art director and that his works were featured in V. Chaldranyan’s “The Silence Symphony.”

Mkhitaryan himself has been the subject of two documentary films: 1997’s “Mais Mkhitaryan,” directed by Nora Muradyan (who in 2003 followed this with a video on the artist), and “Mon fils sera Armenian,” made in Canada in 2002 by Hakob Kutsusyan.

Born in 1962 in Tbilisi, Georgia, Mkhitaryan moved to Yerevan with his family in 1966. In 1992, he was named winner of the Vardan Ajemyan Prize. He is a member of the Armenian Artists Union and UNESCO. Since 1983, Mkhitaryan’s paintings have been exhibited in a number of exhibitions and art-expos. Many works never exhibited are in private collections in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, the United States and a number of European countries. “Spring Melody,” “Encounter” and “The Clown” are in the World Bank MC Atrium and Preston Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

Mais Mkhitaryan is a painter who brings to the ancient Armenian culture a new way of thinking. His paintings are a multifaceted unity of his birthplace, Tbilisi, different ethnicities, everyday life that resembles wandering circuses, Armenian theatre and artisans, colorful baths and bazaars — a culture rich with sun-burnt mountains, bent but still standing temples, priceless rock images, Bronze Age carvings and parchments. In Mkhitaryan’s canvases, all this lies behind a theatrical (and, on many occasions, grotesque) surface. Two seemingly contradictory cultures are in harmony in these paintings. The result is a unique world where man is the main actor, the principal judge, and the prime research target.

Harout Hakobyan or Haroutyun Hakobyan

Harout Hakobyan - Haroutyun Hakobyan - - Հարություն Հակոբյան

Time-bending visions, uniting ancient and contemporary worlds, while angels smile


The metaphysical art of Harout Hakobyan spans periods of time from pre-Renaissance (shown in his sketches after Leonardo da Vinci) to the 21st century. Through his visions, contemporary news-style images are set against ancient structures, while angels, ignoring time, bring their beneficent charms. In these paintings, we discover the eternal and mystical in our midst.

Hakobyan, art editor of the children’s magazine Tsitsernak (Swallow), was born in Leninakan, Armenia, in 1962. A winner of the Diploma Award at P. Terlemezian Fine Arts College, Department of Painting, he went on to internship in the museums and galleries of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and at the Academy of Arts of Vilnius, Lithuania, where he studied lithography and etching. In 1991, he graduated from Yerevan Theatrical and Art Institute, Department of Graphic Arts.

He has had personal exhibitions in Paris, Marseilles, Yerevan and Beirut, and has taken part in group exhibitions in major cities of the United States, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Iran and Lebanon. He is a member of the Cultural Union Momik and the union of Artists of Armenia.



Membership
From 1998 - Union of Artists of Armenia
From 1992 - Cultural Union ‘Momik’

Հարություն Հակոբյան



Ծնվել է 1962թ. Հոկտեմբերի 28-ին, Լենինականում Հասցեն. տուն. Լենինական, Ղուկասյան փողոց 15 արվ. Երևան, Հր. Քոչարի 13, արվ. 29, Հեռ. (3742) 270701

Կրթություն

1969-1972 Լենինականի թիվ 25 միջնակարգ դպրոց
1979-1983 Երևանի Փ. Թերլեմեզյանի անվան ուսումնարանի կերպարվեստի բաժին
1982 Ուսանողական պրակտիկա Մոսկվայի և Սանկտ Պետերբուրգի պատկերասրահներում
1983-1991 Երևանի Գեղարվեստի ինստիտուտի գրաֆիկայի բաժին
1988 Պրակտիկա Վիլնյուսի Արվեստների Ակադեմիայում (լիտոգրաֆիա և օֆօրտ)

Աշխատանք
1992-ից "Ծիծեռնակ" մանկական ամսագրի գեղ. խմբագիր

Ցուցահանդեսներ

1982 Խմբային ցուցահանդես Երևանի Գեղագիտական դաստիարակության կենտրոնում
1991 "Գրաֆիկա 91", Երևան
1991 Դիպլոմային աշխատանքների ցուցահանդես Հայստանի Նկարչի Տանը
1992 "Մոմիկ" երիտասարդական միության կազմակերպած ցուցահանդես Երևանում
1992 ՀՀ Նկարիչների միության երիտասարդական սեկցիայի հոբելյանական ցուցահանդես
1992 Հայ նկարիչների աշխատանքների ցուցահանդես Մոսկվայում
1993 Անհատական ցուցահանդես Փարիզի "Le Cent" սրահում
1995 Անհատական ցուցահանդես Վարշավայի “Solec” սրահում
1996 Խմբային ցուցահանդես Ամստերդամի "66" սրահում
1999 Հայ արվեստը 20-րդ դարի շեմին խմբային ցուցահանդես Երևանի Նկարչի տանը
2001 "Հայաստանի ժամանակակից արվեստը՚" Թեհրանի Արդի արվեստի թանգարան
2001 Անհատական ցուցահանդես "Agial" սրահում, Բեյրութ
2003 Խմբային ցուցահանդես "Ակադեմիա՚" պատկերասրահում
2004 Մասնակցություն “Artexpo” Նյու-Յորք
2006 Անհատական ցուցահանդես "Ակադեմիա" սրահում, Երևան
2009 Անհատական ցուցահանդես Հայկազյան համալսարանում, Բեյրութ

Անդամակցություն
1998-ից Հայաստանի Նկարիչների միության անդամ
1992-ից "Մոմիկ" մշակութային միության անդամ

Robert Fenton

Robert Fenton




Born in 1966 Sydney, Australia. Grew up in Coffs Harbour and begain painting.Moved to Sydney to study, finished studies at the National Art School, East Sydney, NSW. Moved to Melbourne and opened an artist run gallery (Makingsense art space in North Melbourne) with two other artists.Traveled overseas for a year then settled in Frankston, Victoria. Currently lives in Frankston, Australia. Since my studies I have had six solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions, awards, and commissions around Austrialia, with works in private and corporate collections here & overseas.

Joanna Wezyk

"I was born in the magical city of Krakow, the art and poetry capital of Poland. There, I studied at the prestigious Krakow Academy of Fine Arts towards a B.F.A. and M.F.A. Degree in Graphic Arts. I have continued my education in New York earning Masters of Arts in Fine Arts Teaching with Initial Certification Degree. I’m currently a candidate for a Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the School of Visual Arts, New York.
I teach painting at the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Kean University, Union, NJ.

Since moving to the United States, I have devoted all my time, energy and imagination to painting. In addition, I have worked as a children’s book illustrator for Macmillan Publishing House and Simon and Schuster, Inc. for a few years.

I am what can be described as transcultural or bicultural. Consequently, I find that issues particular to Postmodernism, such as otherness and displacement, which resonate through my imagery. Through the creation of almost tentative lines, seemingly opposite notions such as agrarianism and communist hyper-industrialism, or transcendence and political oppression, are presented as the beginning of a cultural dialogue in my compositions. The certainty of scientific truths are paired with inquires into the functions of religion and spirituality.

My favorite medium is oil, and lately, my favorite compositions are of dark and contemplative interiors from a series titled “In Search of a Black Pearl.” My paintings of industrial landscapes, also very atmospheric, depict my search through the mysterious territories of my personal interiors and exteriors.

I see my paintings as the visual expression of a magical realism that is a fractious reconciliation between my past and present. My past’s enchantment holds my soul and imagination in an irresistible spell. Here I find a world of calm, warm light and tender shadow, a world in which objects are coaxed out of the black, colorless background of my gesso-covered canvas. Human presence is felt, but not depicted, a metaphor for the hold my past has on me. While these places still exist in my mind, they are no longer a part of this world.

The ambient, warm moodiness of these interiors is contrasted by the bright, crude starkness of my present: the industrial landscapes from Newark, New Jersey and New York City. I soften and beautify these subjects by giving them human attributes. These scenes contradict with my past yet I live surrounded by them everyday. My dialogues with water towers, chimneys and cranes of New York and New Jersey are joined by silhouettes of architectural forms from Krakow and ski lifts from the Tatra Mountains, forging connections on canvas that unite my past and present spaces.

My work constructs a bridge between these two realities so that I may better understand my world. For now, I know that I am always torn between two worlds: when I am in Poland, I yearn for New York and when I am in New York, I’m nostalgic for Poland. Understanding this fissure is both, a consolation and a torment.

Joanna Wezyk

here and here

Born 1966, Krakow, Poland
Lives and works in New Jersey and New York City
Adjunct Professor, the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Kean University, New Jersey


EDUCATION
2008
M.F.A. School of Visual Arts, New York

2006
M.A. in Fine Arts Teaching, Kean University, Union, New Jersey

1990
B.F.A., M.A. in Graphic Arts from Akademia Sztuk Pieknych, Krakow, Poland


AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2008

Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement in Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts, New York
Artists and Writers Educational and Development Foundation Grant
Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant Program Nominee

2007 - Dedalus Foundation Fellowship nominee

2006 - Kean University, Nathan Weiss Graduate College Certificate of Academic Honors with Distinction in M.A. in Fine Arts

2005 - Summer Residency Program, School of Visual Arts, New York

Abdi Asbaghi

Abdi Asbaghi




Born in Tehran - Iran. 1956

Academic training in painting and art history at Zangar Art Institute Tehran.
1988-1991.

Painting instructor since 1992.