Exhibition: Beginning, end, beginning
Cafesjian Center for the Arts - November 25, 2022 – March 12, 2023
Man is a part of nature, not a being in contrast with it. However, even as part of nature, mankind has always been in constant battle with it, thus, in some sense, with itself.
Canada-based Armenian artist Garen Bedrossian (b. 1952) has explored the relationship between nature and mankind for a few decades already, on many levels: biological, philosophical, cosmic, metaphysical and so on. In addition, man has always played a central role in his oeuvre and the artist's works even originated around him. Garen Bedrossian does not perceive man and nature separately, in a vacuum; on the contrary, they appear in the discourse of their relationship.
Garen Bedrossian's exhibition, beginning, end, beginning features a selection of works directly related to this multi-layered topic, including pieces created particularly for this show. The human being in the artist's works is a traveler who takes not just his own journey, but in a much broader sense, he walks the repetitive path of the mankind, which, as the nature itself, has a circular course; just like in the Biblical phrase:returneth again according to his circuits.
The works presented in Gallery One and Eagle Gallery of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts reveal how Garen Bedrossian contemplates on these issues with his artistic vision. Gallery One is like an introduction of the exhibition: here, man and nature are literally intertwined and man is absorbed by nature from head to toes. The monumental paintings and graphic pieces in Eagle Gallery are expanded around the large-scale sculpture Traveler. Human head (human being in general) so common in Garen Bedrossian's oeuvre, in this case has broken away from earth and has reached a seemingly cosmic meditative mindset, moving from the earthly to the heavenly state. The protagonist in Garen Bedrossian's art is constantly a thought-provoking figure. In all the works featured in the show one can find this idea of transition of the cycles of beginning and ending with the visual interpretation of numerous challenges the humanity is facing.
