Lebanon - Stat Of The Art In Zalka
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The state of the art in Zalka
Emmagoss and Noah’s Ark provide two perspectives on the visual art of
the Lebanese-Armenian community
by Helen Khal
Special to The Daily Star
They may be a bit out of the way, but two galleries very near each other
in Zalka are worth the trip. Opposite the Exotica flower shop is
Emmagoss, owned and operated by the sons and daughters of one of
Lebanon’s greatest painters, the late Paul Guiragossian. Several blocks
down Zalka’s main thoroughfare, up the street from Byblos Bank, is
Noah’s Ark, where Movses and Elo Herguelian commit all their energies to
promoting the best in Armenian contemporary art.
This week each of the galleries is exhibiting a Lebanese-Armenian
artist. The most rewarding aspect of viewing both shows on the same day
is to study the wide contrast between the two artists. One is an
impulsive expressionist directed by humanist concerns. The other works
with the exactitude of a classical realist, honed by 30 years of
experience, in a surreal search to understand the incongruities of life.
At Emmagoss, Jean-Paul Guiragossian, talented younger son of the famous
Paul, brings us a collection of his recent oil pastels. Last year, he
was into trees and the environment. This year, his interest is faces
almost 60 of them, anonymous but all cut of the same cloth. He says he
is painting himself, lost in the turmoil of an age that still pays
little more than lip service to the dignity and rights of humankind.
He attempts to convey this lofty message by giving the faces accusing
eyes, drooping lips and shaven heads. Ameliorating this graphic weight
of sorrow, however, is Jean-Paul’s riveting choice and application of
color. He scribbles with strong emotive strokes in crayon, layer upon
layer, to create startling chromatic combinations a cerulean next to
pearly white or lime green, a pale ultramarine next to smouldering
orange, a vibrating viridian next to cobalt blue.
It is in this provocative interaction of color, played against the
backdrop of a black paper surface, that the real drama of his pictures
is revealed.
The several oils included in the exhibition do not measure up to the
pastel series. They are painted with a rigid hand and lack color
interest. But there is enough in the exhibition to indicate that
Jean-Paul is, without doubt, his father’s son. The talent is there.
We’ll have to wait and see how far he takes it.
Krikor Agopian, at Noah’s Ark, is one of those rare artists: Well versed
in the classical techniques of realism, but most often prefering to
employ them in exploring the pictorial potentials of surrealism and
abstraction.
His expertise in realism shows up best in his fine paintings of
pomegranates, which he calls “the fruit of the gods.” They are,
actually, the blessed fruit of the traditional Armenian tree of life and
symbolize the body and blood of Christ. The translucent seeds, as
rendered by the artist’s subtle application of color, are pregnant with
delectable promise.
A series of nude torsos, also painted in a classical manner, are equally
notable. But here, Agopian introduces surrealistic overtones, apparently
intended to convey a personal message. The female bodies are totally
encased in a gray skin of what looks like plaster, but jagged openings
in this hard shell, at the breast, the abdomen or the thigh, disclose
the soft, living flesh within.
In one canvas, a partially peeled apple poised next to the nude echoes
the same surreal message. Which I suppose must have something to do with
beauty being more than skin deep.
In most of the other paintings, Agopian shifts his expertise away from
realism and veers toward the abstract. In what I can only describe as
doodling in color, he weaves together small fragments of generally
unidentifiable origin and locks them into geometric compartments. What
catches and holds the eye is the melange of bright color as it moves
with angular force diagonally across the surface. His tightly packed,
complex images, however, are disturbingly chaotic. They challenge the
mind to ask if what Agopian seeks is the hidden order of chaos. In this
regard, I wish he’d give it more breathing space.
Two large paintings of bison give further evidence of Agopian’s unusual
versatility. Inspired by the prehistoric cave drawings of Lascaux, he
renders the animals with elegant purity of line and convincingly
reproduces the rock wall upon which they rest, complete with its web of
time-worn fissures. The cracks appear incised into the masonite surface,
but touching them you learn they were painted on. Not many artists can
fool the eye so well.
Guiragossian at Emmagoss, Zalka, until April 10. Tel: (01) 888643.
Agopian at Noah’s Ark, Zalka, until April 13. Tel: (01) 562780.