Arshak Sarkissian

Biography

Arshak Sarkissian was born in Gyumri, Armenia, in the family of artist Ararat Sarkissian. After the earthquake of 1988 he moved to Yerevan.

1998 he graduated from National Aesthetic Center of art, Yerevan, Armenia, 2001–2002 Postgraduary Cyprus College of Art, Paphos, Cyprus.

Arshak designed the interior of passenger terminals in Zvartnots Armenia International Airport. Arshak Sarkissian's sprawling, densely populated canvases depict the sacred and the profane of a society in giddy flux, hungry for self-discovery and meaningful transformation. Sarkissian distills the fierce energies of an eclectic metropolis into tightly-woven pastiches, in which the street life of the downtrodden and behind-the-curtain abandon of bacchanalian beauties at turns collide and converge. His drawings exhibit a complexity and subtlety that exceed imagination; he is one of the few artists capable of creating vast canvasses with multiple figures and complex structure. As a painter he is, at the same time, an anthropologist of states of mind. He depicts animals along with his characters, a fact that also leaves room to physiognomic confusing interpretations.
Arshak Sarkissian's name is among the Verfhon's 2014 List of Painters

Exhibitions

Since 1999 Arshak Sarkissian's works have been exhibited throughout the world.

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

Awards

Quotes from Arshak Sarkissian

In historical paintings you may see very different levels of importance were given to the face of a king, for example, and to his dog. I am more of a documental artist. Beautiful and ugly are the same to me. Every image—man, woman, child, pair of shoes, gets the same attention.
My work is about the idea of someone, their personality, the atmosphere they create. It is not about what they are doing but what they make you feel. When you look at them, you don't think about what their names are. You conceive the concept of two people holding hands.