August - September 2020
Valeriy Geghamyan
The exhibition of paintings and graphics by Valeriy Geghamyan raises resonant public issues of age discrimination.
The human being – the main artistic interest of Valeriy Geghamyan – is interesting in all forms. The textures of mature people aroused in him sincere interest and admiration; the elderly women and men who were his favorite models.
Valeriy Geghamyan's graphic works attract attention with their professional level. Geghamyan's drawing is, first of all, a perfect knowledge of anatomy, excellent knowledge of European drawing techniques, as well as his own analytical developments.
The presented exhibition contains works that the artist created during twenty years of teaching at the Faculty of Art and Graphics. It is interesting that Geghamyan did not occupy a detached position of a mentor, but worked daily with students tirelessly.
Geghamyan could paint anywhere, on anything and as much as he wanted. By the way, he has never used an eraser or other auxiliary tools. Until now, his students tell already semi-legendary stories about how Geghamyan glued three-meter pieces of wallpaper and vigorously and accurately painted on them. Or how, having forgotten where he was, he fell down the stairs in front of the working cardboard and climbed onto it again, bursting into curly language...
The combination of acute social themes and over-professional painting and, especially, drawing techniques of Geghamyan in one project will make it possible to arouse the larger audience interest. And they will also draw attention to the problems of socialization, including professional, mature people.
“People are delighted when they are small and young and then disappointment begins. It is worth accepting these disappointments and taking them as a human nature feature"
Over the past decades, humanity has been steadily and inevitably “aging”. Thanks to advances in medicine and an increase in overall life expectancy, the number of elderly people is constantly growing. We can now observe an interesting phenomenon: on the one hand, there are more and more old people, on the other, their social significance is decreasing. Now the venerable age does not guarantee anything - neither confidence, nor status. However, in fairness it is worth saying that, even being young, in the modern world it is easy to be contemptible.
Despite the closeness of everyday life, sometimes bordering on sociopathy, Valeriy Geghamyan carefully studied human nature all his life: physical and psychological. The styles of mature people aroused keen interest in him. Geghamyan worked with some elderly sitters for years. Now we can observe what the artist saw - forms filled with meaning.
The absence of formal harmony never bothers the author; his creation is entirely deliberately changed proportions. A deliberate, at first glance, disharmonious combination of colors, a tendency towards hyperactivity are the distinctive features of Geghamyan's works. For an artist, this kind of professional interest lies precisely in the specific physical and psychological qualities of the models. With the help of skillful generalization, Geghamyan is able to create the illusion that the viewer has exceptional personalities in exceptional circumstances.
Structurally, the project consists of several blocks, presented in separate rooms: large early painting portraits, throne portraits and portrait graphics.
The first film about Valeriy Geghamyan will also be presented.
2 curatorial tours of the exposition are planned.
Curator Tsyganok Oksana Borisovna
Exhibition working hours:
August 28 - September 20, 2020
Daily: 10.00-17.45
Mon, Thu: days off
National Museum "Kiev Art Gallery"
Kiev 01004
st. Tereschenkovskaya, 9