Ara Havhannisyan’s Recognizable and Abstract Realities
The originality of artists’ style discloses the directedness of his inner searches. The artist changing his style while in the creative processes solves an important task for himself: to what extent are his perceptions and approaches adapted to the modern time developments, what is the reaction to innovations and his capability to disclose them? It is not about empty formalism but natural developments occurring in the art dictated by life.
Ara Hovhannisyan, lecturer at Painting and Drawing chair of State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia considered it expedient to organise his first solo exhibition at “Albert and Tove boyajian” exhibition hall. When he spoke about his student years he mentioned in his speech famous artists that were teaching those years and added that it was a dream to have an exhibition hall to show personal works. Recalling the hardships of the Academy he praised Aram Isabekyan’s efforts to bring the half-ruined, destroyed institution to its present satisfactory status.
The interrelations and differences between winter landscapes in the lobby and abstract works shown farther the other hall, as to Mr. Paravon Mirzoyan prove about the change of creative thinking. This is the same point that art-critic Larisa Topchyan views the exhibition works. Her view on the sequence of styles the artist demonstrates is driven from impressions of previous, already familiar creations.
Painter, art-critic Ara Haytayan has been close to Ara Hovhannisyan since teenage years when they were participating for the first time to plein-airs and were being self-established as painters. Mr. Haytayan expressed regret that his friend’s first solo exhibition was being held in such a delay that had deprived the public of the opportunity to learn the path of the artist. The works exhibited in the entrance hall he considered conventionally the recognizable reality that covered a certain period of our life, the endless nightmare of severe winter of 2017. The abstract nature of the artist’s another series Ara Haytayan considers to be seemingly, as a keen eye under these forms can notice a completely different thing: “Each work has a background, landscape, interior. Each work is completed with a high tension. Ara is not the painter who leaves the work in a comfort state and neither leaves us in that comfort. The tension inside him is manifested in every work and I think this art cannot leave the sensitive audience indifferent. Today, I think we are discovering an author in this wholeness”.
Melanya Badalyan
Translated by Naira Stepanyan
