ARTHUR SARKISSIAN

Born: 1960, Gyumri, Armenia

EDUCATION

1977    School of Fine Arts, Gyumri, Armenia

1989    Armenian Pedagogical University, Department of Drawing

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016    Land of Vitality, Galentz Museum, Yerevan, Armenia

2013    Saatchi Gallery, Hyatt Regency, London, UK

2012    9artists+20years, Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art, Yerevan, Armenia

2011    Christie’s Charity Auction of Contemporary Armenian Art, In Aid of Yerevan My Love, London, England

            Exhibition Devoted to the 20th Anniversary of Independence of Republic of Armenia, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

2010    Optimizm, Armenian New Art, Artists House of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

            Colors of Armenia, Marseille, France

2009    The Way It Is, ACCEA, Yerevan, Armenia

            Transitional Hypotheses, Armenian Japanese Artists, ACCEA, Yerevan, Armenia

2008    Undercurrent Shifts, ACCEA, Yerevan, Armenia

2007    Armenian Contemporary Art, Orangeri Du Luxembourg, Paris, France

            5 Armenian Artists, Marseille, France

            Armenian Landscapes in Contemporary Art, Zurich, Switzerland

2006    Armenian Style, Akanat Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

            Art Without Borders, Havana Gallery, Oldenburg, Germany

2005    Marie Pargas Gallery, Ashevill, NC, US

            The Collection of Viken Makhyan, AGBU Pasadena Center, Pasadena, CA, US

            Oil on Canvas, Academy Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

            Photo Plus, ACCEA, Yerevan, Armenia

2004    The Dynamics of Abstract Art in Armenia, Akanat Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

2003    Beyond Icons: Contemporary Art in Armenia, William J. Backman Gallery, Munster, IN, US

2002    Beyond Icons: Contemporary Art in Armenia, William J. Backman Gallery, Munster, IN, US

2001    Exhibition Devoted to the 1700 Anniversary of Christianity of Armenia, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia

1999    Windows to Armenia, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL, US.

            With Many Voices, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL, US.

1998    Inscription: Post Factum, ACCEA, Yerevan, Armenia

1997    Dreams and Visions, Westin Hotel, Chicago, IL, US

1996    Armenian Money Mark, TAAK Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

1995    Contemporary Art of Armenia: 80-95, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia

1992    Armenian Post Modernism, Moscow, Russian

            Contemporary Armenian Artists, Gallery Visiion, Kassel, Germany

            Contemporary Art from Armenia, London, UK

1991    New Academy Gallery, London, UK

New Tendencies in Art, Goyak Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

1989    Art of the USSR: The Past 50 Years, Madrid, Spain

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016    Armenian Museum of Fresno, Fresno, CA, US

            Tufenkian Fine Arts, Glendale, CA, US

2013    Garboushian Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, US

2012    1927 Gallery in the Fine Art Building, Los Angeles, CA, US

2011    Art Cube Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, US

2010    1927 Gallery in the Fine Art Building, Los Angeles, CA, US

            Artology 101 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, US

2009    Between the Images, One Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

2008    Modern Art Museum of Yerevan, Yerevan, Armenia

2006    First Floor Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

2003    “Mind Games” First Floor Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

1998    JNR Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia

1994    Bossen Cultural Center, Saabrucken, Germany

COLLECTIONS

Modern Art Museum of Yerevan, Armenia

National Gallery of Armenia

HCVT Corporate Collection

Various Private Collections

BIOGRAPHY

Arthur Sarkissian was born in 1960 in Gyumri, Armenia. In 1977, he attended the School of Fine Arts, followed by the Yerevan State Pedagogical University in 1989, specializing in Drawing. 

His abstract art is a statement of post-soviet freedom of expression. His approach to painting developed from the desire to free himself from Socialist Realism. His artwork combines painting and silkscreen printing. It incorporates text, photograph, signs, and architectural images, fusing oil paints with found imagery. It acts as a bridge connecting the past and the present. 

Sarkissian’s canvases focus on the collage aesthetic, defining modern compositions. He lives in a visual world, filled with the collage aesthetic, helping him find his true expression. His artwork is elegant and raw, chaotic and lucid, expansive and deliberate. In a universe of opposites, his art flourishes in the balance.

More recently, he’s become more fascinated with paint as the main subject. He wants to prove how beautiful paint can be independently. The depth that the material creates individually is displayed in his artwork.

Sarkissian currently lives and works in Yerevan.

ARTISTS STATEMENT

The art is a multi-stratum game of the thought and soul, and the best way to justify one’s existence. For me Fine Arts is an opportunity to reappraise and revive the old and the new, The Chronicle and the Contemporaneity.