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KYURKCHYAN, KHATCHERIAN COLLABORATE ON 'ORNAMENTAL ART' PUBLICATIONS
Armenian Weekly
August 29, 2012 in Armenia,
YEREVAN-The independent Armenian publisher Craftology has announced
the American release of the twin titles Armenian Ornamental Art and
Armenian Ornamental Script-the result of a landmark collaboration
of artist-designer Armen Kyurkchyan and photographer Hrair Hawk
Khatcherian, who spent more than a decade excavating and capturing the
Armenian patterns, symbols, and scripts that have survived centuries
and civilizations to take their place in the world cultural treasury.
The cover of Armenian Ornamental Art For the first volume, Armenian
Ornamental Art, the collaborators journeyed across the eastern and
western homelands, crossing rivers and borders to visit every church,
cemetery, and monument where an Armenian craftsman might have taken
chisel to stone. They uncovered thousands of miniature masterpieces:
rosettes, birds, human figures, angels, crosses. Now, for the first
time, these masterpieces have been captured both as photographs
(taken by Khatcherian) and as meticulous drawings (rendered by
Kyurkchyan), which are presented side-by-side in print as they are
on a CD accompanying the glossy, full-color volume.
"Our intent was not merely to collect and present our national
treasures for admiration on coffee tables and in classrooms,"
Kyurkchyan said, "but also to offer our country's native designs-true
masterworks of medieval art-to practicing designers, architects,
and artists who might incorporate them in their own creations, giving
them new life in the 21st century."
The second volume, Armenian Ornamental Script, sent the collaborators
on a journey of another kind-an excursion to the libraries,
repositories, and archives of the world, where ornamented Armenian
manuscripts have been scattered through time. In their pages the
authors found the original 36 Armenian letters, but not in their
standard geometric forms. The Armenian masters have transformed
our letters from mere symbolic units into unique masterpieces of
ornamental art. Now we, too, can see them-letters that blossom into
flowers or take flight into birds or find higher life, with a sudden
burst of imagination, in human forms.
"The Armenian illuminated manuscripts are especially dear to me,"
Kyurkchyan said, "decorated as they were not only by skilled
professionals, but also by monks-sometimes even by their young
students. These illustrations are my favorite. They are so simple,
so charming, even naïve. It is almost heartbreaking to consider their
innocence and sincerity."
Both volumes are now available on Amazon and at select bookstores
across the world.
Armenian Weekly
August 29, 2012 in Armenia,
YEREVAN-The independent Armenian publisher Craftology has announced
the American release of the twin titles Armenian Ornamental Art and
Armenian Ornamental Script-the result of a landmark collaboration
of artist-designer Armen Kyurkchyan and photographer Hrair Hawk
Khatcherian, who spent more than a decade excavating and capturing the
Armenian patterns, symbols, and scripts that have survived centuries
and civilizations to take their place in the world cultural treasury.
The cover of Armenian Ornamental Art For the first volume, Armenian
Ornamental Art, the collaborators journeyed across the eastern and
western homelands, crossing rivers and borders to visit every church,
cemetery, and monument where an Armenian craftsman might have taken
chisel to stone. They uncovered thousands of miniature masterpieces:
rosettes, birds, human figures, angels, crosses. Now, for the first
time, these masterpieces have been captured both as photographs
(taken by Khatcherian) and as meticulous drawings (rendered by
Kyurkchyan), which are presented side-by-side in print as they are
on a CD accompanying the glossy, full-color volume.
"Our intent was not merely to collect and present our national
treasures for admiration on coffee tables and in classrooms,"
Kyurkchyan said, "but also to offer our country's native designs-true
masterworks of medieval art-to practicing designers, architects,
and artists who might incorporate them in their own creations, giving
them new life in the 21st century."
The second volume, Armenian Ornamental Script, sent the collaborators
on a journey of another kind-an excursion to the libraries,
repositories, and archives of the world, where ornamented Armenian
manuscripts have been scattered through time. In their pages the
authors found the original 36 Armenian letters, but not in their
standard geometric forms. The Armenian masters have transformed
our letters from mere symbolic units into unique masterpieces of
ornamental art. Now we, too, can see them-letters that blossom into
flowers or take flight into birds or find higher life, with a sudden
burst of imagination, in human forms.
"The Armenian illuminated manuscripts are especially dear to me,"
Kyurkchyan said, "decorated as they were not only by skilled
professionals, but also by monks-sometimes even by their young
students. These illustrations are my favorite. They are so simple,
so charming, even naïve. It is almost heartbreaking to consider their
innocence and sincerity."
Both volumes are now available on Amazon and at select bookstores
across the world.