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  • A Private Art Collection Made Public

    A PRIVATE ART COLLECTION MADE PUBLIC
    BY: Chirine Lahoud

    The Daily Star (Lebanon)
    December 1, 2011 Thursday

    Gallerist Zara Mazmanian founded the Esquisse Gallery in Bahrain in
    mid-2009. After the Arab Spring arrived in that country, however,
    the gallery moved to Beirut.

    BEIRUT: Gallerist Zara Mazmanian founded the Esquisse Gallery in
    Bahrain in mid-2009. After the Arab Spring arrived in that country,
    however, the gallery moved to Beirut.

    As Esquisse is still under construction and not scheduled to open
    officially in Ashrafieh until January 2012, Mazmanian decided to
    open her first show, "Contemporary Dawn," last weekend at Hamra's
    Tourism Ministry showroom.This collective exhibition is taken from
    Mazmanian's private collection, pieces which, as she told The Daily
    Star, "spoke to [her] heart."

    "Contemporary Dawn" is comprised of work from such Armenian artists
    as Albert Hakobyan, Gabriel Manukyan and Mkrtich Mazmanian and Middle
    Eastern artists like Faika al-Hasan.

    The exhibition title, she said, "expresses a fresh start," and what
    better place than the Tourism Ministry to host the blending of cultures
    that the nationalities of artists implies.

    Gabriel Manukyan (aka Gabo) is represented by a pair of
    acrylic-on-canvas works entitled, respectively, "The Wedding Day"
    and "Across the Bank."

    What immediately attracts the eye of the viewer is the artist's palette
    of vivid colors. Greens, blues, yellows and browns pervade the canvas,
    giving it a cheerful aspect. His art is described in press documents
    as reflecting "a world of fantasy, magic and joy."

    "The Wedding Day" focuses on two persons, presumably a bride and
    groom. The bride is sensually reclined on a decorative platform,
    her wedding bed. Above her, two figures (apparently men) seem to be
    blowing on horn-like instruments - whether to woo her or to celebrate
    the impending nuptials is uncertain.

    This tableau unfolds before a solid green background - the color
    of fertility and regeneration - which further underlines the sense
    of celebration.

    Gabo's depiction of his two characters is puppet-like. Whatever makes
    up their bodies, it is not bone, muscle or flesh. Their body parts
    appear to have been stitched together so that it's difficult to tell
    where the flesh ends and the clothing begins, assemblages of colorful
    cloth which give the characters the aspect of living pi?atas.

    The balance between the solid background and the fabric-like riot of
    Gabo's figures is well devised: to have painted a variegated background
    would have stifled the canvases too much.

    Although these are very busy canvases, it's a pleasure to gaze upon
    the dream-like world depicted in this artist's work.

    Not all the work in "Contemporary Dawn" is equally enjoyable.

    Teni Vardanyan's four oil-on-canvas pieces place viewers before quite
    obscure scenes.

    "The Yellow Light" (82x65 cm) portrays three odd creatures, which
    appear to be joined to one another at the hips and shoulders, like
    Siamese triplets. Two arms are visible, with gloved hands. The creature
    on the right has two faces and is wearing slippers, while the other
    two stand barefoot on what looks like a floor tile or a stage.

    All stand before a yellow light bulb suspended from the ceiling.

    Teni's painting technique emphasizes this impression of looking at
    fantastic creatures. Their faces aren't detailed and their heads are
    round-shaped (like a light bulb actually). No clue about gender is
    given to viewers and we don't know whether they are nude or dressed.

    We notice a dichotomy in the color used to paint their bodies. Legs
    radiate shades of orange, as though reflecting the light emitted
    by the bulb. The upper parts of their bodies, on the other hand,
    are blue, almost fluorescent.

    There is something perfunctory in the depiction of the light bulb,
    as though it were added at the last minute.

    The exhibition includes a wide range of figurative sculptures in
    bronze by Mkrtich Mazmanian - father of the gallery owner. Mazmanian's
    sculptures depict female-shaped bodies in different situations.

    The bottom part of "Messenger" (103x25x20 cm) is comprised of an
    angular feminine body, combined with an upper body made of what
    appears to be a roll of paper.

    Mazmanian's deployment of his "Messenger" suggests it/she is on her way
    to deliver this message. The exhibition literature suggests Mazmanian's
    art is "spatial ... abstract yet contains realism." The sole trace
    of realism here lies in its depiction of the female body, though the
    uncoiling of the paper roll conveys the impression of movement.

    The bronze "Mirage Two" (65x30x20 cm) radiates a sense of lightness,
    portraying the body of an angel - from what we decipher to be a wing
    on the left side of the work - with its legs replaced by a striped
    piece of bronze, similar to the waves of a mirage you might see in
    the desert.

    In Mazmanian's sculptures, there is always a hint of motion. He
    transports viewers into an imaginary world, blending realist shapes
    with fantastical ones.

    "Contemporary Dawn" is on display at Glass Hall, in the Tourism
    Ministry, until Dec. 4. For further information, please call
    01-340-940.

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