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Critics' Forum Article - 02.02.08

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  • Critics' Forum Article - 02.02.08

    Critics' Forum
    Visual Arts
    Art in the Time of Change: Contemporary Art in Armenia

    By Tamar Sinanian and Taleen Tertzakian
    www.criticsforum.org

    In order to understand where art in the now independent Armenian
    republic is going, we need to look back at where it has been,
    especially since the fateful days of independence in 1991.

    The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 instigated change not only
    in the economic, political, and military spheres of the former
    republics but in the everyday freedoms of its people. The sister
    policies of Glasnost and Perestroika, established in the late 1980s
    by Gorbachev in his feeble efforts to save the Soviet structure,
    ultimately resulted in the beginning of the end of the Soviet era.
    Glasnost (meaning "openness") promoted a spirit of intellectual and
    cultural openness which encouraged public debate and participation in
    support of the program of Perestroika (or, "economic restructuring").

    By promoting an exchange of ideas and information, a concept long
    foreign to that area of the world, Glasnost allowed the introduction
    of the western tenet of freedom of speech. Soviet citizens began to
    artistically and journalistically express themselves in ways that for
    years had been forbidden by the Soviet regime. The introduction of
    such "anti-soviet" concepts, and the resulting relaxation of
    censorship, eventually lead to the Communist Party losing its grip on
    the media and ultimately to the dismantling of the tight soviet
    structure that had been in place for the past 75 years. Each of the
    former soviet republics reacted differently to this loosening of
    control and in their own way contributed to the eventual fall of the
    system.

    Armenia proved to be one of the more vociferous republics, as its
    citizens took full advantage of the changing political and social
    atmosphere. In 1988, soviet tanks firmly planted themselves in
    Yerevan's city center, the then "Lenin Square", in response to
    demonstrations against soviet policies, including religious,
    environmental, and political issues. People took to the streets in
    demonstration and some camped out in front of the Opera House,
    bringing attention to their cause by organizing a hunger strike.

    While this political and social chaos kept escalating on the streets
    of Yerevan, artists were in their studios recreating their art to
    reflect the times and documenting the birth of a new era. At this
    time, a small group of these artists organized a number of exhibits
    called "Third Floor," named after the floor in the Artists Union
    where they would exhibit. At Third Floor, artists experimented with
    different art forms and techniques, fomenting change while
    foreshadowing the creative freedom to come.

    The abundance of artistic styles that emerged in Armenia during this
    tumultuous time of rapid transition revealed the anticipated need of
    release the art community was struggling with. This post-
    collapse "fresh breath" was a long time in coming. Artists in Armenia
    stripped themselves of the constraints placed on them by the state-
    imposed genre of Socialist Realism, a style of representational art
    that furthered the goals of socialism and communism, and began
    exploring other techniques and forms of expression. No longer did
    artists need to restrict their subject matter and purpose when
    creating art.

    This new-found freedom resulted in artists casting aside the stale,
    contrived images of tractors, workers, and other proletariat models
    of socialist realist art for newly discovered inspirations, forms and
    techniques as artists were finally allowed to openly learn, study,
    and discover western art. The abstract and modern schools of thought,
    which had streamed out of 1950s and 60s New York (abstract
    expressionism followed by pop art) and had taken the rest of the art
    world by storm became more accessible and tangible to these artists.
    They began studying Rauschenberg, Rothko, Warhol, and their American
    peers as well as various members of Germany's 1980s neo-expressionist
    movement. The influence of these various schools of thought in
    correlation with the social and historical context surrounding the
    artists created a new perspective - and ultimately a new school of
    Armenian Art.

    The dichotomy of pre- and post-soviet influence is very much apparent
    in the art work of many of the artists who have established present-
    day Armenia's contemporary art scene, including Yerevan-based Arthur
    Sarkissian. Like many of his contemporaries, during the 1980s,
    Sarkissian steered away from Socialist Realism and began
    experimenting with abstraction. During an interview in 2005,
    Sarkissian suggested, "my approach to painting developed from the
    desire to free myself from Socialist Realism. Abstract thought was
    the means of free expression. I have never given up and always
    experimented. So, now there are no boundaries for me; I create freely
    and at any desired moment I can return to abstract art, or
    incorporate several styles."

    This notion of freedom that Sarkissian yearned for in his desire to
    depart from the restrictive principles of Socialist Realism can be
    seen in his style and technique. Often compared to one of his great
    influences, American artist Robert Rauschenberg, Sarkissian's collage-
    like method of painting juxtaposes silkscreen images on a canvas with
    painterly gestures. In his work, Sarkissian incorporates signs,
    texts, manuscripts, photographs, interiors and exteriors of different
    architectural structures, as well as images of Renaissance and
    Baroque art. The spontaneous placement of these images on canvas
    along with expressionist brushstrokes demonstrates the freedom of
    expression he enjoys in making his art today.

    In present-day Armenia, artists, such as Sarkissian, experiment with
    their various inspirations, moods, philosophies, and perspectives,
    without having to pay homage to any ideological dogma. Sarkissian
    takes this freedom and runs with it. And the western world is taking
    notice. In a review of Sarkissian's work, Peter Frank, an art critic
    for LA Weekly has written: "Just as he can transit from manual
    gesture to photographic document, his imagery can fluctuate in mood
    from lighthearted and sweet to ominous and grave, from fluid and
    beautiful to stark and coarse. The shifts between tonalities can be
    more dramatic than the tonalities themselves."

    Like Sarkissian, many artists in Yerevan have embraced the creative
    freedom of Armenia's new era and are collectively changing the
    historico-cultural discourse of Armenia's contemporary art scene.
    With such an auspicious beginning, we cannot wait to see where the
    artists, and their art, will take us.


    All Rights Reserved: Critics' Forum, 2008

    Tamar Sinanian holds a Master's degree in Contemporary Art from
    Sothebys Institute in London. She is also the co-founder of T&T Art,
    an art consulting company.

    Taleen Tertzakian is an attorney and holds a Master's degree in
    Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from Stanford
    University. She is also the co-founder of T&T Art, an art consulting
    company.

    You can reach them or any of the other contributors to Critics' Forum
    at [email protected]. This and all other articles published
    in this series are available online at www.criticsforum.org. To sign
    up for a weekly electronic version of new articles, go to
    www.criticsforum.org/join. Critics' Forum is a group created to
    discuss issues relating to Armenian art and culture in the Diaspora.
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