O-Panaroma

Armen Hakobjanyan

Armen Hakobjanyan is a contemporary painter born in 1989 in Sisian (Syunik Province in southern Armenia). During his teenagerhood, the artist has studied in the Sisian School of Fine Arts named after Zakar Khachatryan. Here he studied under the supervision of Ashot Avagyan, a well-known Armenian painter, who is inspired by ancient megalithic structures and ancient petroglyphs. This is where Hakobjanyan found interest in the functional abilities of the materials. Later, he studied at Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction, receiving a master’s degree in Architecture. This background has developed his specific approach towards painting. Hakobjanyan plays with his role as an artist switching it from a “doer” to a “definer”, questioning the presence and meaning of painting in the contemporary world. Inspired by nostalgic memories he is trying to create a bridge between our memories and reality. “Love”, “Equality” and “Quietness” are three words, which according to Hakobjanyan, best describe his artworks. Armen Hakobjanyan’s technique is based on oil thinning, which gives his landscapes a glowing luminosity and transparency. These monumental forms seem indestructible and mythically calm, yet the shimmering and flowing paint also suggest a state of impermanence and transition. Originally from Sisian, Hakobjanyan’s pared down, minimalist vistas seem inspired by the harsh reliefs of his native southern region. But the landscapes are imaginary rather than concrete and they return to the question of the sublime, the power of primal elements and the overwhelming indifference of nature towards humanity. In this, Hakobjanyan continues the trajectory of Armenian landscape painting first set up by Vardges Surenyants and developed in Soviet era by Hakob Hakobyan.