Passport Arts

Passport Arts is pleased to announce the addition of six more artists to our ever increasing roster of talented Caucasian painters. From the amazing palette of Suren Safaryan who uses colour expressively and symbolically, the expressive brushwork of Gastello Gasparyan, the theatrical and musically-inspired compositions of Ashot Harutunyan, the impressionist yet uniquely Armenian work of Hayk Sargsyan, the harmonious colour and line compositions of Artak Barsegyan, and finally to the expressive line drawings Yelena Hakobyan. Please enjoy viewing these new offerings. We hope you’ll find amongst them one you will like to call your own.

Passport Arts has added four new artists and over 50 new pieces to its website. These new artists include two artists not yet 30 years of age! We think you will agree that what painter Lilit Bachachyan 23 and sculpter Areg Vardanyan 27, lack in years they more than make up in talent. We are also proud to present to our worldwide audience the romantic paintings of Rpsime Grigoryan and the lyrical bronze sculptures of Karine Atchemyan. In addition to these new artists, we have added new pieces from the ever popular Seyran Gasparyan. Please enjoy these new pieces as well as those of the other artists on the site. We welcome all your comments.

Ever since the wars that tore it apart years ago, Armenia has been a small country. Throughout history, many people have set their sights on conquering this rich territory and enslaving the exuberant population therein. That said, Armenia continues to be a land with a unique history, a fairytale-like epos and a strikingly distinctive culture.

A vine-scroll motif on carvings from the 7th century cathedral of Zvartnots.

Stones and ceramics have been preserved in the incomparable specimens of Armenian paintings and sculptures. The walls of Etchmiadzin, the Yererouk Basilica, the Tatev Monastery and of other temples carefully preserve exquisite ornaments, reliefs and bass-reliefs which, to this day, reflect the imagination of humankind. Armenian paintings are rich in ornaments that depict animals, plants, the history of Christianity and everyday life scenes.

The emotion and strength of the imagination of artists have transformed ordinary stone walls into story-telling works of art. After a time, icons began to appear in Armenian creations. Miniatures that depict religious imagery in the illustrations of books stand out, even now, in terms of their vividness and picturesque imagery.

The Ninth Wave by Aivazovski

The creativity of the Armenian nation is not limited to religious subjects. Since the emergence of mounted paintings, pictures with a Soviet content began to be more common. In the 19th century,Armenia gave the world the gift in the form of the great artist-marinist Ivan (Ovanes) Aivazovski. His maritime themes which depict the beautiful Caucasian landscapes and everyday life scenes (displayed in more than 6000 canvases) are filled with the radiance of the lavish sun and spill out from his brushes.

Famous Sevan rug Armenian design

Another example of creativity can be seen in the famous Armenian rugs. The roots of this element of Armenian creativity predate Christianity. It isno secret that the rugs in Armenia have a special status which is near to esoteric. Even the ornaments depict symbols of God, glory, protection, sacrifice and success. The cross and crucifixion symbols show off multifaceted swastikas and stars with many points depicting delightful images of the World and of God.

God and the World are everlasting images that stand alongside humanity. These symbols have been used especially in the contemporary abstract creations of Armenian painters, such as Arshile Gorki, Gagik Manukyan, Minas Avetisyan and others. Through lines and colours, abstractionists express their perspectives on the whole concept of creation. The complex world of humankind and creation manifests itself in the smooth juxtaposition of shades and tones in vivid colours; as if the rugs of the ancient masters (or contemporary abstract paintings) are saturated with sacred concepts.

Similarly, in the ancient frescoes and miniatures, contemporary paintings of Armenia have remained, over the centuries, as depictions of a fine artistic emotions and the unification with nature.

All of his life, this Canadian-Armenian had heard stories of his ancestors’ homeland, stories of rapturous beauty, stories of unspeakable suffering. Now, at the midpoint of his life, he felt inescapably drawn to see that homeland for himself, to find his roots in Armenia.

Among the many things revealed to him, among the many discoveries, was the richness and diversity of Armenia’s art. He had gone to Armenia on one mission; he returned to Canada with another. This is how Asbed Palakian and a group of art-loving friends began Passport Arts.

An artist paints the 9th century St. Arakelots church at Lake Sevan.

The mission of Passport Arts is to bring to the world’s attention undiscovered works of art from hidden corners of the globe. In its debut, the Canadian company has focused on countries of the Caucasus, primarily Armenia, but also Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Black Sea region of Russia.

“These are countries,” says Palakian, “that have endured centuries of pain. But out of torment and turbulence, great beauty has merged. Art has sprung up like a flower growing from a rock. In the Caucasus, you are surrounded by three millennia of artistic creativity, from ancient khatchkars, the stone crosses of Armenia, to the most innovative and experimental work of the 21st century.

“Artists of these regions,” Palakian continues, “live and work in small, often isolated areas. And while they are rich in talent, few possess the kind of marketing sophistication that would lead them outside the boundaries of their countries. We felt a responsibility to these artists to present their work to a global audience. At the same time, we felt a responsibility to art aficionados to offer them views of works they might otherwise never see.”

Palakian says, “To see these artworks in person, one would have to travel to the Caucasus, search out the artists, and visit their studios, which are often out of the mainstream and not easily found. To do this would take an enormous investment in time and travel.”

While the Passport Arts website currently displays contemporary artworks of the Caucasus, it is the company’s intention to introduce artists of other countries to its global audience. “The thrill for us is in the discovery of artists and artworks far from the beaten path,” says Palakian. “It is our privilege to work with these artists and share their creations with viewers around the world.”

What began as a sentimental journey has become a unique way to view remarkable, seldom-seen artworks and to discover little-known artists.

“It is,” says Palakian, “a labor of love. Our greatest satisfaction comes in bringing artists and collectors together, when they are thousands of miles apart.”

In front of his masterpiece, “The Mysterious Supper”.

One of the most colorful and fascinating figures in the Passport Arts gallery is Mais Mkhitaryan. Born in Georgia, but a longtime resident of Armenia, Mkhitaryan has been the subject of two documentary films, including the 2002 Canadian production “Mon fils sera Armenian.” His work is often fanciful (beautifully gowned ladies wearing hats containing exotic birds and fish) and often religious (“Mother of God,” “The Pharisee,” and his magnificent tapestry “The Mysterious Supper”).

With Hasmik Ginoyan, Exhibitions Director for the National Gallery of Armenia.

To visit Mkhitaryan’s studio, one must climb a winding road of stone buildings, without the aid of street signs. But once there the artist, garbed in renaissance costume, pours Cognac, serves walnut-stuffed dried fruits, plays music of an Armenian liturgical choir. It is a welcome more than worth the climb and the search.

In his studio viewing his latest work.

While Mkhitaryan’s paintings hang in the World Bank MC Atrium and Washington, D.C.’s Preston Auditorium, other artists introduced by Passport Arts are emerging, making their initial entry onto the international stage. Their styles cover the full spectrum of contemporary art, from figurative to abstract. Surrealists, impressionists, cubists, minimalists—all find a place at Passport Arts. The subjects are equally wide-ranging. The Passport Arts gallery includes landscapes, marine impressions, portraits, nudes, street scenes, architectural renderings, still life and botanical studies, spiritual visions, fantasiesand fairy tale imaginings. “Entering this gallery,” said one viewer, “is like opening the door to an enchanted world.”

See Mais Mkhitaryan’s portfolio

Every artist’s work is defined by the discovery of both the depths and limits of his creativity. It is the capturing of his reflection within the phenomena of his existence. The environments of the artist’s childhood and youth, the formative years, are critical determinants in the artist’s view of life and depiction of it.

It is significant that Harout Harutiunyan, whose paintings carry an aura of otherworldly mystery, was born in the Holy City of Etchmiadzin, centre of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Cathedral of Etchmiadzin (translated as both “The coming of the only begotten” and “The holy ground of Christ’s descent”) is the nation’s oldest church building, constructed in 480. It was here, as a child, that Harutiunyan heard mystical sacred music. And it was in the Ararat Valley that he walked through fruitful gardens, surrounded by blossoming flowers.

All of these spiritual and sensuous experiences have contributed to the lyricism of Harutiunyan’s work—melodious and mysterious, tender and vibrant, earth loving and elegant, playful and fantastic—whether the subject is a landscape or still life, a religious vision or a fairy tale fantasy.

Harutiunyan, curator of the Museum of Fine Arts in Etchmiadzin, is a graduate of the P. Terlemezian College of Painting and the Yerevan Theatrical and Art Institute (theatre appears as another major influence on his imagination). He has been a member of the Artists Union of Armenia since 1977, and has participated in numerous international exhibitions. His paintings have been shown in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Bulgaria, Brazil, India, Syria and Lebanon. Harutiunyan’s works are in the collections of the National Gallery of Armenia, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, and many other public and private collections.

Today, the richness of Harout Harutiunyan’s early impressions continues to infuse his brilliant mature creations.

See Harout Harutiunyan’s portfolio

The Metamorphic Landscapes of Samvel Chibukhchyan
by Saro Sarukhanian

Samvel Chibukhchyan as a person was recognized later than Samvel Chibukhchyan the artist. Although his paintings attracted special attention for many years, he remained largely unknown. This was still the case four years ago, when his canvas “Heavenly Gift,” displayed at the Republican Exhibition, was awarded first prize by the Artists Union of Armenia. But while the artist continued to pursue his work out of the public spotlight, his paintings drew ever-greater praise, and critics began to sense the qualities of the man behind them. One wrote “On the palette of this artist there is something more than colors, which is impossible not to see: fascinating honesty.”

Secluded in his studio, built in the yard of his ancestral home, Samvel Chibukhchyan seeks, in Saro Sarukhanian’s words, “to create a word that hasn’t been articulated before and a picture that hasn’t been painted.”

“Metaphoric landscapes”

Sarukhanian describes Chibukhchyan’s frame-dominating metaphoric landscapes as “surprisingly simple and sensible: the forest eternally slumbering under the gaze of a white cloud against the blue-grey sky; the silent dream of the sparkling mountains having the sacrament of a piece of wheat field in their palms; the agonizing effort of the mountains stretching above the stony slopes; the silence of sunburned fields round the green oasis of a patch of land with life-giving light; deserted mud houses bent under the burden of years of recollection.”

“Heavenly Gift”

“Each of these pictures,” Sarukhanian concludes, “is a pure, innocent reflection of unalloyed emotions, where each scene of nature acquires the live spirit of its existence.” The writer compares the spiritual impact of viewing Chibukhchyan’s “Heavenly Gift” to that experienced when hearing a Bach Mass.

Samvel Chibukhchyan’s studio “is the abode of a man of belief – silent and secluded in his fascinating solitude.”

See Samvel Chibukhchyan’s portfolio

Rewind25 is the latest hardcover book published by photographer Vasgen Degirmentas. It chronicles his 25 years as an editorial and documentary photographer.

Whether a landscape, street scene, or church ceremony, the essence of his work is the ordinary life around him. His photographs are representations or blueprints of the diminishing beauty of ordinary people and their lives. This book is his way of sharing 25 years of the visual notes of his life. His images are a witness and a historical record of the changing life of the Armenian community in Turkey.

In addition, he captures for eternity extraordinary images of ancient Anatolia — “a heaven of stones” as he calls it. All the civilisations that have inhabited this land have left wonderful and unique churches, sculptures, mosques, palaces, and tombstones. They are all masterpieces of their time especially the Armenian stone work in the ancient cities of Ani-Kars and Aghtamar-Van.

See Vasgen Degirmentas’ portfolio.