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MISSAKIAN'S ODE TO ANDY
The Suburban Newspaper
Sept 5 2012
Berge Missakian, a soft spoken humble man, is a unique Canadian artist
specializing in Cubist style jazz paintings.
Misakian was born in Alexandria, Egypt of Armenian heritage and has
been living in Montreal since 1962, residing in Montreal West.
Missakian studied at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. and at Concordia
University.
Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, Tom Thomson, Henri Matisse, Pablo
Picasso, Joan Miro and George Braque, Missakian's forte are his
contrasting vibrant colors, full of embellished musical instruments
that seem to spring out to you from the canvas. Like the best jazz
musicians who improvise on a familiar tune, Missakian reinvents
lines and shapes so that the observer perceives the familiar objects
in a different light. He listens to jazz as he paints, selecting
appropriate music. Some of the jazz greats he has honoured are Louis
Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Winton Marsalis. He did a
painting of former president Clinton, playing the saxophone, when he
appeared on Arsenio Hall's show, attempting to win over voters, while
seeking election. Missakian has had many solo exhibitions nationally
and internationally and his works can be found in numerous private
and corporate collections world-wide. A compassionate man, he is
angered by life's injustices. In 1915, more than a million Armenians
were massacred by the Turks. In 1985 Missakian commemorated this
human tragedy by creating a collection of 15 paintings "Colors of a
Genocide". The collection has been acquired by the Armenian Library
and Museum of America, in Watertown, Ma. He has had two books published
about his art.
One of the galleries that represent Missakian is the Seaside Art
Gallery in Nags Head, North Carolina. A woman walked into the gallery
last year, fell in love with the artist's work and asked the owner
if he could arrange with Missakian for a portrait of her husband.
Missakian obliged. The gallery director told Missakian, "The painting
that you did meant so much to him that he had it in his room where he
saw it every day and always showed it off to his visitors. It gave
him a tremendous amount of pleasure." Her husband died recently at
his North Carolina home at age 86.
His name was Andy Griffith, the actor, whose portrayal of a
small-town sheriff made The Andy Griffith Show one of television's
most enduring and beloved series. The situation comedy aired from
1960-68. Missakian explained to me what each symbol in his 24x36
inch painting represents. "The stool in the far left has a book,
titled Matlock, that was the legal drama Andy starred in from
1986-95. The piano with Andy's portrait reminds the viewer of his
profound love and respect for music (his career started as a country
and gospel singer).There is a trombone player and a guitar player -
two instruments Andy excelled in and cherished. Within the painting
there is a painting of a lady - a reminder of the ladies in Andy's
life. The wine bottle and the wine glass are there to remind the viewer
of the good times Andy had always enjoyed. The fruits symbolize the
continuity of life. Outside, the open window with the warm sun and
the clear blue water are reminders of many good deeds Andy had done -
as the boat goes into the horizon. The flowers represent the amazing
blessings given by the Lord to Andy. The back of the painting has
my signature, the year the painting was done and my finger prints in
order to underline the authenticity of my Ode to Andy."
Locally, works by Missakian can be found at Galerie Lamoureux
Ritzenhoff in Old Montreal.
The Suburban, Bernard Mendelman, Berge Missakian, Ode to Andy
http://thesuburban.com/news/articles/?id=article00658
From: Baghdasarian
The Suburban Newspaper
Sept 5 2012
Berge Missakian, a soft spoken humble man, is a unique Canadian artist
specializing in Cubist style jazz paintings.
Misakian was born in Alexandria, Egypt of Armenian heritage and has
been living in Montreal since 1962, residing in Montreal West.
Missakian studied at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. and at Concordia
University.
Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh, Tom Thomson, Henri Matisse, Pablo
Picasso, Joan Miro and George Braque, Missakian's forte are his
contrasting vibrant colors, full of embellished musical instruments
that seem to spring out to you from the canvas. Like the best jazz
musicians who improvise on a familiar tune, Missakian reinvents
lines and shapes so that the observer perceives the familiar objects
in a different light. He listens to jazz as he paints, selecting
appropriate music. Some of the jazz greats he has honoured are Louis
Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Winton Marsalis. He did a
painting of former president Clinton, playing the saxophone, when he
appeared on Arsenio Hall's show, attempting to win over voters, while
seeking election. Missakian has had many solo exhibitions nationally
and internationally and his works can be found in numerous private
and corporate collections world-wide. A compassionate man, he is
angered by life's injustices. In 1915, more than a million Armenians
were massacred by the Turks. In 1985 Missakian commemorated this
human tragedy by creating a collection of 15 paintings "Colors of a
Genocide". The collection has been acquired by the Armenian Library
and Museum of America, in Watertown, Ma. He has had two books published
about his art.
One of the galleries that represent Missakian is the Seaside Art
Gallery in Nags Head, North Carolina. A woman walked into the gallery
last year, fell in love with the artist's work and asked the owner
if he could arrange with Missakian for a portrait of her husband.
Missakian obliged. The gallery director told Missakian, "The painting
that you did meant so much to him that he had it in his room where he
saw it every day and always showed it off to his visitors. It gave
him a tremendous amount of pleasure." Her husband died recently at
his North Carolina home at age 86.
His name was Andy Griffith, the actor, whose portrayal of a
small-town sheriff made The Andy Griffith Show one of television's
most enduring and beloved series. The situation comedy aired from
1960-68. Missakian explained to me what each symbol in his 24x36
inch painting represents. "The stool in the far left has a book,
titled Matlock, that was the legal drama Andy starred in from
1986-95. The piano with Andy's portrait reminds the viewer of his
profound love and respect for music (his career started as a country
and gospel singer).There is a trombone player and a guitar player -
two instruments Andy excelled in and cherished. Within the painting
there is a painting of a lady - a reminder of the ladies in Andy's
life. The wine bottle and the wine glass are there to remind the viewer
of the good times Andy had always enjoyed. The fruits symbolize the
continuity of life. Outside, the open window with the warm sun and
the clear blue water are reminders of many good deeds Andy had done -
as the boat goes into the horizon. The flowers represent the amazing
blessings given by the Lord to Andy. The back of the painting has
my signature, the year the painting was done and my finger prints in
order to underline the authenticity of my Ode to Andy."
Locally, works by Missakian can be found at Galerie Lamoureux
Ritzenhoff in Old Montreal.
The Suburban, Bernard Mendelman, Berge Missakian, Ode to Andy
http://thesuburban.com/news/articles/?id=article00658
From: Baghdasarian