Ashot Avagyan
Ashot Avagyan (Armenian: Աշոտ Ավագյան; born May 20, 1958) is a modern Armenian artist who lives and works in Sisian, Armenia.
The cornerstone of Avagyan's artistic work is the cultural heritage of his homeland Sisian and Syunik. If iconography of the Neolithic petroglyphs and Middle Age Armenian stone graves are present in Avagyan's works on canvas, the ancient tales, rituals and their interpretations and ancient local monuments (Zorats Karer, Portakar) are integrated into his performances. As artist attempts to create a bridge between the past and the present.
Ashot Avagyan was awarded the state prize in 2013 for the fresco “Mashtots” (Matenadaran, the symposium hall of the newly built subsidiary building of Mesrop Mashtots Research Institute of Old Manuscripts)[1]
Besides artistic work, Avagyan taught fine arts in Sisian Children's Art School after Z. Khachatryan from 1981-2016. From 2010-2018 Ashot was curating works of megalithic monument ''Zorats Karer historical-cultrual reserve''.
Since 1988 he has been actively involved in sociopolitical activities of Armenia, particularly Sisian. He was engaged in local politics, elected as a member of City Council of Elders and has since 1990 been a member of Sisian committee of Armenian Revolutionary Federation․ Artist has participated in First Nagorno-Karabakh War , 2016 Nagorno-Karbakh conflict and Second Nagorno-Karabakh War among Sisakan volunteer detachment of freedom fighters.
Early life and career[]
Ashot Avagyan was born in 1958 in Sisian, Soviet Armenia. His father, Ararat Avagyan, has been a history teacher and mother Parandzem Voskanyan was an accountant. Ashot's interest in fine arts started at Children's Art School of Sisian, where he attended studios of E. Hakobjanyan, V. Petrosyan and Z. Khachatryan.
In 1977 Avagyan entered the Yerevan Art College after P. Terlemezyan, studying in studio of S. Petrosyan. After graduation in 1981 he returned back to his hometown and started teaching at Children's Art School until 2016.
The early period of artist's work carried reflections and inspiration of French and Armenian fine arts of early 20th century.
In the frame of Artsakh movement of 1988, Ashot Avagyan was actively engaged in Karabakh Committee of Sisian becoming one of the organizers of protests in Sisian together with his maternal uncle Vurg Voskanyan who later died in 1993 during First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Avagyan's artistic development was set on break as he concentrated his efforts in the war and later on in development of army as a coordinator of civil issues of Sisian's military unit. He fully returned back to art in 1998.
List of solo shows[]
2017- April 2016, ‘Whore’s Stocking’ military position, Sargis Muradyan Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2015 - Mashtots, Hamazkayin Lucy Tutunjian Art Gallery, Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon
2015 - Untitled, German Embassy in Armenia, Yerevan, Armenian
2013 - The inheritor of the heritage, Zvartnotc historical-cultural reserve-museum, Armenia
2013 - 48 th ‘Salon de peinture de la ville de Montelimar’, Hotel de Ville, Montelimar, France
2012 - Untitled, Consulate of the Republic of Armenia, Los Angeles, USA
2012 - Mashtots 1650, Abrahamyan Art Center, Yerevan, Armenia
2011 - Untitled, Matenadaran (Institute of Ancient Manuscripts), Yerevan, Armenia
2010 - Untitled, Embassy of the United States, Yerevan, Armenia
2009 - Untitled, Zhorats Karer, Sisian, Armenia
2008 - Memories from previous life, Gevorgyan Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2004 - Magic double circle, Gevorgyan Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
2000 - The seven papers of Demiurge, Chamber Theater, Yerevan, Armenia
List of performances[]
Involve the areas of cultural sites and monuments of and around Sisian (Ukhtasar petroglyphs, Zorats Karer, Portakar).
2018 - Regret, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
2017 - Reconstruction, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
Fertility – 2, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
Solstice, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
2016 - Solstice, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
2015 - Solstice, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
2014 - Solstice, Epicenter Art Laboratory, Sisian, Armenia
2012 - Sacrifice – 2, in the frames of Shushi Art Project ''Land and Technology'', Shushi, Nagorno-Karabakh
2011 - Return – 4, Sisian, Armenia
2010 - Return – 3, Sisian, Armenia
2008 - Sacrifice, Sisian, Armenia
2007 - Return – 2, Sisian, Armenia
2006 - Return, in the frame of the 5 th Gyumri International Biennale, with Azat Sargsyan, Sisian, Armenia
2004 - Fertility, Sisian, Armenia
2003 - Reincarnation, Sisian, Armenia
2002 - Magic double circle, Sisian, Armenia
2001 - Forgive me, Mama!, Sisian, Armenia
2000 - The way, Sisian, Armenia
1999 - Dialogue, Sisian, Armenia
List of selected group exhibitions[]
2019 - Colors of freedom, Modern Art Museum of Yerevan, Yerevan, Armenia
2018 - Armenian Artist Fair, Quadriennale of Lyon, Palais de Bondy, Lyon, France
2012 - Armenian Artists in Firenze, Circolo Ufficiale di Presidio, Florence, Italy
Armenian Artists in Scafati, Centro per la Cultura e le Arti, Scafati, Italy
Untitled, Art World, Yerevan, Armenia
2011 - Armeni, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, Rome, Italy
S. Petrosyan and students, Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan, Armenia
20 years of Interdependency of the Republic of Armenia, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan,
Armenia
2010 - Armeni, Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, Italy
Tigran the Great, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
2008 - Generation freedom: Armenia’s new vanguard, InterArt Gallery, New York, USA
The 6 th Gyumri International Biennale, Gyumri, Armenia
2007 - Armenian landscapes in contemporary art, ewz-Unterwerk Selnau Kultur- und Eventhaus,
Zurich, Switzerland
Contemporary artists form Armenia, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Pasadena, USA
From Ararat to Fuji, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
Colors of Armenia, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Damascus, Syria
Colors of Armenia, G. Gyulbenkyan Center, Aleppo, Syria
2006 - Meeting with Saryan, National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia
Colors of Armenia, IFEFEL, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Colors of Armenia, Abdala Al-Salem Hall, Kuwait, Kuwait
The 5 th Gyumri International Biennale, Gyumri, Armenia
2005 - Art Caucasus Art Expo, Tbilisi, Georgia
2004 - Art Caucasus Art Expo, Tbilisi, Georgia
The 4 th Gyumri International Biennale, Gyumri, Armenia
2003 - Transcendent, Albert & Tove Boyajyan Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia
Armenian Genocide, Cooper Union, New York, USA
Four Armenian artists, Contemporary & modern art, Dublin, Ireland
Four Armenian artists, Montreal, Canada
2002 - Show of avant-garde art, ACCEA, Yerevan, Armenia
Four Armenian artists, Arshile Gorky gallery, Toronto, Canada
Four Armenian artists, Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark
List of selected catalogues[]
2017 - Armenian Artists: Yerevan [Eng.]
2015 - Mashtots: Hamazkayin Lucy Tutunjian Art Gallery. Beirut [Arm., Eng.]
2013 - Armeni: Turin [Eng.]
2008 - Generation Freedom: Armenia’s New Vanguard. New York: RAH [Eng.]
Recovering Wounds. Yerevan: GCCA [Arm., Eng.]
2007 - Armenian Landscapes in Contemporary Art. Yerevan [Germ., Eng.]
4 Contemporary Artists from Armenia. Pasadena: AGBU [Eng.]
2006 - The colors of Armenia, contemporary Armenian artists. Yerevan: Tigran Mets [Rus.]
The 5 th Gyumri International Biennale. Yerevan: GCCA [Arm., Eng.]
2005 - Art Caucasus. Art Expo-2005. Tbilisi: Art Caucasus [Arm., Eng.]
2004 - The 4 th Gyumri International Biennale. Yerevan: GCCA, 2004[Arm., Eng.]
Gevorgyan Gallery. Yerevan: Gevorgyan Gallery [Arm., Eng.]
Art Caucasus. Art Expo-2004. Tbilisi: Art Caucasus [Arm., Eng.]
Work with Zorats Karer archaeological site[]
Since December 2010 Ashot Avagyan has been the Director of Zorats Karer megalithic historical complex in Sisian. He assisted with the Oxford University Expedition to the site. Avagyan worked with expedition leader Mihran Vardanyan to create a healthy scientific and cultural climate around the monument in order to attract more tourists.
Personal life[]
Ashot Avagyan has a younger sister and a younger brother (who also participated in two Nagorno-Karabakh wars) and two children.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Life and Death of Ashot Avagyan, Artist of Sisian
- ↑ Armenia (Chapter)
- ↑ Artistic Reconstruction of a Fertility Ritual on YouTube
- ↑ Sacrifice and other works by Ashot Avagyan
- ↑ Ashot Avagyan and Oxford Expedition Archived December 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Tourism Development Zorats Karer Tourism Development
Further reading[]
- Mad Artist of Sisian
External links[]
| Wikiquote has quotations related to: Ashot Avagyan |
- Ashot Avagayan Armenian Wiki
- Ashot Avagayan Stars & Stones: Oxford University Expedition to Armenia
See also[]
References[]
Further reading[]
External links[]
 |
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Ashot Avagyan |
- 1958 births
- Abstract expressionist artists
- Armenian painters
- Living people