Sarkis: Il Grido
Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Brussels is delighted to present the solo exhibition by Sarkis, more than twenty years after his last exhibition in Belgium.* The event is all the more eagerly expected as 2015 was a very busy and productive year for Sarkis.
In May 2015, at the 56th Venice Biennale, under the curatorship of Defne Ayas, director of Witte de With (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Sarkis created an installation titled Respiro for the Turkish Pavilion. Also at the Venice Biennale, this time under the curatorship of Adelina C眉beryan von F眉rstenberg, he was included in the exhibition Armenity, which brought together the most talented artists from the Armenian diaspora in the Pavilion of the Armenian Republic. The Pavilion was the winner of the Golden Lion this year.
In September 2015, Sarkis was also invited to take part in the 14th Istanbul Biennial, whose curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, had directed the last Documenta in 2012.**
In September 2015, the Villa Empain 鈥� Fondation Boghossian in Brussels devoted an exhibition to two major artists of contemporary Armenian culture: Sarkis, who was born in Istanbul in 1938, and the filmmaker Sergue茂 Paradjanov (1924鈥�1990). In Sarkis with Paradjanov,*** Sarkis鈥檚 work was invited to dialogue with that of the dissident Georgian filmmaker. Not limiting itself to underlining the points in common between two creative universes, the show revealed the importance that cinema plays in the use of images in Sarkis鈥檚 art.
The exhibition at the Galerie Nathalie Obadia, titled Il Grido (Italian for 鈥榯he cry鈥� or 鈥榯he scream鈥�) by Sarkis in tribute to the film of the same name by Michelangelo Antonioni, also reflects this creative love of cinema, which is here combined other sources of inspiration, most importantly the famous Scream by Edvard Munch (1863鈥�1944). This iconic painting of 20th-century modern art is the common thread in this exhibition of some thirty mixed-media works, passing from painting to stained glass to a sound and light installation.
Sarkis 鈥渂egan art with The Scream鈥�, he says. He first became aware of Munch鈥檚 painting during his adolescent years. As the young Sarkis tore out magazine pages to wrap fresh meat with his father, a butcher, he came across a reproduction of the Scream. It was a shock for this young lad from Istanbul who had never seen a painting. The image stuck in his mind and he decided to become an artist.
Six decades later, the exhibition at the Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Brussels manifests the acknowledgement of this Armenian artist to the Norwegian painter鈥檚 masterpiece and reveals all the power and importance of images 鈥� such as icons 鈥� in Sarkis鈥檚 creative universe.
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Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Brussels is delighted to present the solo exhibition by Sarkis, more than twenty years after his last exhibition in Belgium.* The event is all the more eagerly expected as 2015 was a very busy and productive year for Sarkis.
In May 2015, at the 56th Venice Biennale, under the curatorship of Defne Ayas, director of Witte de With (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Sarkis created an installation titled Respiro for the Turkish Pavilion. Also at the Venice Biennale, this time under the curatorship of Adelina C眉beryan von F眉rstenberg, he was included in the exhibition Armenity, which brought together the most talented artists from the Armenian diaspora in the Pavilion of the Armenian Republic. The Pavilion was the winner of the Golden Lion this year.
In September 2015, Sarkis was also invited to take part in the 14th Istanbul Biennial, whose curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, had directed the last Documenta in 2012.**
In September 2015, the Villa Empain 鈥� Fondation Boghossian in Brussels devoted an exhibition to two major artists of contemporary Armenian culture: Sarkis, who was born in Istanbul in 1938, and the filmmaker Sergue茂 Paradjanov (1924鈥�1990). In Sarkis with Paradjanov,*** Sarkis鈥檚 work was invited to dialogue with that of the dissident Georgian filmmaker. Not limiting itself to underlining the points in common between two creative universes, the show revealed the importance that cinema plays in the use of images in Sarkis鈥檚 art.
The exhibition at the Galerie Nathalie Obadia, titled Il Grido (Italian for 鈥榯he cry鈥� or 鈥榯he scream鈥�) by Sarkis in tribute to the film of the same name by Michelangelo Antonioni, also reflects this creative love of cinema, which is here combined other sources of inspiration, most importantly the famous Scream by Edvard Munch (1863鈥�1944). This iconic painting of 20th-century modern art is the common thread in this exhibition of some thirty mixed-media works, passing from painting to stained glass to a sound and light installation.
Sarkis 鈥渂egan art with The Scream鈥�, he says. He first became aware of Munch鈥檚 painting during his adolescent years. As the young Sarkis tore out magazine pages to wrap fresh meat with his father, a butcher, he came across a reproduction of the Scream. It was a shock for this young lad from Istanbul who had never seen a painting. The image stuck in his mind and he decided to become an artist.
Six decades later, the exhibition at the Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Brussels manifests the acknowledgement of this Armenian artist to the Norwegian painter鈥檚 masterpiece and reveals all the power and importance of images 鈥� such as icons 鈥� in Sarkis鈥檚 creative universe.
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