top of page

ARTIST STATEMENT

Roman K Aivazian Artist, Roman Aiwasjan, Roman Ayvazyan art, Роман Айвазян художник

Art, a passion for painting with oil has been in me since childhood, as long as I can remember. Since that time - stubbornness, unwillingness to obey the rules, and a desire to express my personal perception of the environment have settled in the soul. So, it has always been difficult. Difficult to study within the academic canons, to do term papers to get an "A", which means to do it the way others would like it.

I was always literally bursting with my own, internal artistic images, which of course few people could understand, but fortunately among my teachers were those rare persons who understood me, encouraged me, praised me. And it was they who made me an artist, and didn't "break" me.

Now I understand that these were people who, like me, did not accept business in art, who were passionate about its development, its living movement, and I am so grateful to them for this.

For me, to create a painting means to throw out a bundle of emotions, a wave of feelings that has suddenly risen, never fully formed, and suddenly, like a flash of photography, becomes displayed in a form. It's important to be in time. Often images slip away, come back again, slip away again. This is the notorious torment of creativity, exhausting, annoying, often leading to a dead end from which you can only escape through a series of failures.

I can't boast that I'm often pleased with myself. Sometimes it seems that Yes, this work is a masterpiece. But it will take a long time before you allow yourself to be sure of this feeling. Those moments are rare. I also can't say what exactly inspires me. It's both everything around and nothing in particular. Of course, nature and the surrounding grace and color, but only indirectly. In fact, inspiration is like a disease, like an inexplicable "itch" that arises inside - in one's mind, in the body, in the hands, when nothing helps - just a brush in my hand and paints on a palette.

“That’s probably all I can say about that,” as my favorite naive Forrest Gump used to say. Art, inspiration and its fruits are difficult to explain. With my paintings I directly address the feelings of those who will look at them, so that through these feelings someone can perceive my energy, which I am trying to put into my work, and I cannot do otherwise.

Sincerely yours, Roman Aivazian, who many times tried to "put his brushes aside" in moments of creative crises, but yet did not overcome the innate craving for the unique smell of oil paints. By the way, the smells that have been living in our memory since childhood are also a powerful source of inspiration.

Roman K. Aivazian

Artist, graphic, sculptor

BIOGRAPHY

Author of these gripping artworks Roman Aivazian was born in Tbilisi in 1960, in a mixed Armenian-Russian family. Flamboyant nature of Transcaucasia and deeply orthodox Weltanschauung of his Russian Grandmother who brought him up became a foundation of his life perception. He started drawing from early childhood, and didn’t give up this pursuit later in the process of growing up, promising to become a painter. Firstly he graduated from Tbilisi Art College, then continued studying at a well-known Tbilisi artist and teacher Irina Grigoryevna Fedosova, who was his mentor and confederate in profession. Roman Aivazian considers her main of his teachers. She prepared him to enter the Tbilisi Fine Art Academy, but at that time he had to enter the army.

 

He was allocated to Germany, and during the service his talent didn’t stay unnoticed: he did many decorator works and painting in the rooms of garrison. Already then his creative work attracted attention, and leaders of the garrison insisted on extension of his contract, with a guaranty of entrance and study in Berlin Fine Arts Academy. But youth is presuming, and one can’t always calculate all moves in his destiny – a truly creative personality is not capable of that. Roman came back to Tbilisi to take care of his seriously ill dying father, and spent his last year near him. So the European education, unreachable at that time (it was 1980), was sacrificed to filial duty. Well… Soul free of meanness and betrayal of oneself – is one of the obligatory conditions of never vanishing creative flight, fruitful search and inspiration. His study was resumed a year later, already in Moscow Fine Arts Academy. In the academy Roman Aivazian had a reputation of bright individuality with his own ready writing style, bold and powerful hand.

 

After graduating from the Academy, artist worked a lot in Tbilisi, in Moscow, in Tbilisi again. He participated in many exhibitions, was accepted to the Artists Association. But too tight it felt for a person of such creative temperament and scale in though inspiring, but small Georgia. Surely he wanted to continue his path in exuberant Moscow. To Moscow, then! Here, at the famous Arbat street – symbol of freedom and renaissance and in its full meaning - the Citadel of Arts.

Then, in the middle of 1980-s Arbat street was a concentration of veritable, breaking out Art – powerful, free, confronting the inveterate socialist realism, with its portraits of communist leaders and foremost people of manufacturing.

 

Arbat of the middle 80-ies was like a golden thread, reaching out from the great Russian “captured-in-flight” Avant-garde of the 20-ies. This thread connected the past and the contemporary Russian art, free of ideological fetters. It was the time of an incredible burst of interest in Russian Avant-garde, in soviet and post-soviet nonconformist art among amateurs and connoisseurs from all over the world.

 

And Roman Aivazian was discovered at this seemingly non-prestigious street vernissage. His oil paintings and graphic were being sold, people were inspired by the hope of renewal, liberation, they craved for singularity and novelty. One Moscow plant’s director offered Roman a studio at his clubhouse, in which artist fruitfully worked for a long time.  In that studio he was visited by a lot of collectors and art lovers, who acquired his paintings and most often exported them from Russia.

 

It’s hard to estimate – but more than 200 works of artist, graphic, sculptor Roman Aivazian were spread all over the world, to private collections and galleries.

 

Some works may be in Russian homes, many of them left to Yerevan. We could not trace their path – but maybe it’s not necessary. The main thing is that they make someone happy.

 

And regarding the exhibition activity – Roman is an individualist. He had several exhibitions in Moscow in 90-ies, but later he lost interest to the exhibition activity, considering it too commercialized, not to say mercenary. So now Roman continues to work in the quiet of his countryside residence, rather distant from Moscow vanity. As every artist, he has periods of active creativeness and periods of crisis, pursuit and search, which helps him to evolve constantly within his utterly unique and recognizable style. 

Auctions

 

Fischer 

2010-2012

http://www.fischerauktionen.ch/UserData/Katalog_122062_00.pdf  

http://www.artnet.com/artists/roman-k-a%C3%AFvasian/past-auction-results

 

Koller

2007

http://www.blouinfairs.com/artists/223414-roman-k-aivasian

http://www.artvalue.com/artist--aivasian-roman-k-1960-russia-143169.htm

 

Exhibitions

 

House of Artists, Moscow, Russia 1989

SKO Exhibition Hall Mira Avenue, Moscow, Russia 1990

Galerie Bodenschatz, Basel, Switzerland 1991 

Parallax Art Fair, London, UK 2015

Clickart Center, Milano, Italy 2016

Galerie am Maxmonument, Munich, Germany 2016

Clickart Center, Milano, Italy 2018

Galerie am Maxmonument, Munich, Germany 2017

ArteVisione Gallery, Athens, Greece 2019

Galerie Bruel, Badenweiler, Germany, 2020 

Ozone Gallery, Badenweiler, Germany, 2021

Ozone Gallery, Athens, Greece, 2021

Vinetart in collaboration with Ozone Gallery, Colmar, 2022

Tapan Museum, Moscow, 2023 - on view

Links

bottom of page