ARMEN ELOYAN

The never-before-seen works all depict partially abstract figures–mostly females. These figures have been imagined by Eloyan, using portraits or busts as inspiration. This body of work moves away from his traditionally large-scale paintings: measuring 40 by 50 centimeters, these new works echo seventeenth and eighteenth century portraiture in size. The act of paintings with the whole body–rather than with the wrist alone–is not simply a manner of expression for Eloyan: emotion and attitude burst through the canvas, through the physicality in which Eloyan puts the paint onto the canvases.

Born in Armenia, Eloyan’s works reflect his younger years spent watching American and Russian television. His well-known large-scale paintings draw inspiration from street art, cartoons and predecessors such as Maxim Gorky and Williem de Kooning. His works feature a unique twist on the ordinary–his paintings are replete with thick, daring brushstrokes, coupled with dark and satirical undertones. While Eloyan does not define himself as a writer, his paintings convey a story to the viewer - one that deals with humour and darkness at once. Many of his figures are subject of oppression through Nazism, racism and extremism–Eloyan draws this subject matter through his past in troubled Armenia.