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Journey Through Art: A Daniel Varoujan Hejinian 'Peace of Art' Exhibit
By Contributor on September 5, 2014
BOSTON, Mass.--From Sept. 16-Oct. 16, the National Gallery of Armenia
in Yerevan will host a Peace of Art exhibit by artist Daniel Varoujan
Hejinian, organized by the Armenian Ministry of the Diaspora. This is
the first Peace of Art exhibit outside of the United States, and
celebrates the 23rd anniversary of the independence of Armenia, while
also commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
Daniel Varoujan Hejinian
The exhibition will include art work from the Peace of Art collection,
Romantic Expressionist paintings, drawings, graphics, and a series of
paintings dedicated to Armenia depicting the tricolor flag. The art
work from the Peace of Art collection reflects human suffering and the
triumph of the human spirit, as well as the desire for peace, in a
series of sophisticated compositions of over-imposed symbolic images.
The Romantic Expressionist paintings reflect the joyous state of mind
one may accomplish in times of peace, the seduction and romance in the
gardens of Varoujan's imagination, and musical symphonies of colors.
With this exhibition, Varoujan has created a triptych in celebration
of the 23rd anniversary of the independence of Armenia, with the title
"From Genocide to Independence," in which a young woman in the center
represents the young Republic, with her open arms reaching up to
doves, a symbol of peace. To the left is a representation of the 1988
earthquake that destroyed thousands of lives. "The painting on the
right depicts the tricolor as an eagle's triumphant flight entering
Artsakh, where doves fly in the peaceful sky while the Armenian army
is marching a glorious parade," said Varoujan.
"The Crime of the Century" is the title of another triptych
commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The center
piece is a dramatic composition depicting the battle in the name of
peace. Hands are extended. Horse and man bite each other. Humanity is
cruel and intolerant for its racial, ethnic, and religious
differences. Men have been chased by their own shadows and beaten by
their own dreams. In the middle of the painting to the left is a group
of people shaped as a mushroom cloud. Deported, their land has been
taken and their families killed. Their terrified eyes are open yet
blinded by the terror they've seen; their hands cover their mouths,
speechless in describing the crime they've witnessed. The painting to
the right reminds us how fragile peace is, like a paper dove in a
child's hands. Safe and loved in his mother's arms, he releases his
toy and lets it float in the wind. There are a group of people above
them in a different stage of life; there's pain, suffering, and
insecurity. They extend their hands waiting for the return of the
dove. "They are waiting for recognition and justice," Varoujan
explained.
Varoujan was born in Aleppo, Syria, to parents who survived the
genocide. As a young man, at the age of 19, he went to Armenia to
study art. After completing his master's at the Gegharvestaterakan
Institute in Yerevan, he left Soviet Armenia and moved to the United
States, to the Boston area. He was later joined in the U.S. by his
wife and their daughter. Soon thereafter his son was born. The family
has kept close ties to their Armenian culture, and Armenian is the
language spoken in the home.
Daniel Varoujan Hejinian has painted religious murals for seven
Armenian churches in the United States. The Sts. Vartanantz Armenian
Church in Chelmsford, Mass., alone contains 47 murals. Varoujan's
Romantic Expressionist paintings have been exhibited in many fine art
galleries in the United States, from Boston to Miami, and his
paintings are represented in several fine art collections in the
United States and abroad.
In 1996, Varoujan designed and posted the first Armenian Genocide
commemorative billboard in the diaspora, bringing the genocide out in
the open to the community at large, calling for its recognition. To
this date, every year the commemorative billboards are displayed
around the Boston area. In 2003, Varoujan created and founded Peace of
Art, Inc., a non-profit educational organization charged with bringing
awareness to the human condition through art. Peace of Art has
conducted several art exhibits in government buildings, including the
Massachusetts State House and city halls in several cities;
institutions of higher education, such as Harvard University; private
galleries; and at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Mass.
The Armenian Genocide awareness campaign became one of the projects of
Peace of Art, and since 2004, it has sponsored the commemorative
billboards. In 2010, Varoujan donated the complete series of framed
billboards to the Armenian Museum of America as part of their
permanent collection. Images of the complete series can be viewed by
visiting www.PeaceofArt.org.
When the members of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of
Merrimack Valley invited Varoujan to design a monument for the city of
Lowell, they had yet to see his ability to connect art to the history
of his people, and to the city where the monument was to be installed.
In May 2014, his "A Mother's Hands" monument to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide was unveiled in front of Lowell's City Hall, to the
acclaim of elected officials and members of the community. The
monument depicts a mother's hands in bronze, knitting into a
cross-stone. For the first time in the diaspora, an Armenian Genocide
commemorative monument was installed on government property.
For more information about the artist and Peace of Art projects, visit
www.PeaceofArt.org. Images of the art work from the Romantic
Expressionist series can be viewed at www.CollectorsPalette.com.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/09/05/journey-art-daniel-varoujan-hejinian-peace-art-exhibit/
By Contributor on September 5, 2014
BOSTON, Mass.--From Sept. 16-Oct. 16, the National Gallery of Armenia
in Yerevan will host a Peace of Art exhibit by artist Daniel Varoujan
Hejinian, organized by the Armenian Ministry of the Diaspora. This is
the first Peace of Art exhibit outside of the United States, and
celebrates the 23rd anniversary of the independence of Armenia, while
also commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
Daniel Varoujan Hejinian
The exhibition will include art work from the Peace of Art collection,
Romantic Expressionist paintings, drawings, graphics, and a series of
paintings dedicated to Armenia depicting the tricolor flag. The art
work from the Peace of Art collection reflects human suffering and the
triumph of the human spirit, as well as the desire for peace, in a
series of sophisticated compositions of over-imposed symbolic images.
The Romantic Expressionist paintings reflect the joyous state of mind
one may accomplish in times of peace, the seduction and romance in the
gardens of Varoujan's imagination, and musical symphonies of colors.
With this exhibition, Varoujan has created a triptych in celebration
of the 23rd anniversary of the independence of Armenia, with the title
"From Genocide to Independence," in which a young woman in the center
represents the young Republic, with her open arms reaching up to
doves, a symbol of peace. To the left is a representation of the 1988
earthquake that destroyed thousands of lives. "The painting on the
right depicts the tricolor as an eagle's triumphant flight entering
Artsakh, where doves fly in the peaceful sky while the Armenian army
is marching a glorious parade," said Varoujan.
"The Crime of the Century" is the title of another triptych
commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The center
piece is a dramatic composition depicting the battle in the name of
peace. Hands are extended. Horse and man bite each other. Humanity is
cruel and intolerant for its racial, ethnic, and religious
differences. Men have been chased by their own shadows and beaten by
their own dreams. In the middle of the painting to the left is a group
of people shaped as a mushroom cloud. Deported, their land has been
taken and their families killed. Their terrified eyes are open yet
blinded by the terror they've seen; their hands cover their mouths,
speechless in describing the crime they've witnessed. The painting to
the right reminds us how fragile peace is, like a paper dove in a
child's hands. Safe and loved in his mother's arms, he releases his
toy and lets it float in the wind. There are a group of people above
them in a different stage of life; there's pain, suffering, and
insecurity. They extend their hands waiting for the return of the
dove. "They are waiting for recognition and justice," Varoujan
explained.
Varoujan was born in Aleppo, Syria, to parents who survived the
genocide. As a young man, at the age of 19, he went to Armenia to
study art. After completing his master's at the Gegharvestaterakan
Institute in Yerevan, he left Soviet Armenia and moved to the United
States, to the Boston area. He was later joined in the U.S. by his
wife and their daughter. Soon thereafter his son was born. The family
has kept close ties to their Armenian culture, and Armenian is the
language spoken in the home.
Daniel Varoujan Hejinian has painted religious murals for seven
Armenian churches in the United States. The Sts. Vartanantz Armenian
Church in Chelmsford, Mass., alone contains 47 murals. Varoujan's
Romantic Expressionist paintings have been exhibited in many fine art
galleries in the United States, from Boston to Miami, and his
paintings are represented in several fine art collections in the
United States and abroad.
In 1996, Varoujan designed and posted the first Armenian Genocide
commemorative billboard in the diaspora, bringing the genocide out in
the open to the community at large, calling for its recognition. To
this date, every year the commemorative billboards are displayed
around the Boston area. In 2003, Varoujan created and founded Peace of
Art, Inc., a non-profit educational organization charged with bringing
awareness to the human condition through art. Peace of Art has
conducted several art exhibits in government buildings, including the
Massachusetts State House and city halls in several cities;
institutions of higher education, such as Harvard University; private
galleries; and at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Mass.
The Armenian Genocide awareness campaign became one of the projects of
Peace of Art, and since 2004, it has sponsored the commemorative
billboards. In 2010, Varoujan donated the complete series of framed
billboards to the Armenian Museum of America as part of their
permanent collection. Images of the complete series can be viewed by
visiting www.PeaceofArt.org.
When the members of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee of
Merrimack Valley invited Varoujan to design a monument for the city of
Lowell, they had yet to see his ability to connect art to the history
of his people, and to the city where the monument was to be installed.
In May 2014, his "A Mother's Hands" monument to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide was unveiled in front of Lowell's City Hall, to the
acclaim of elected officials and members of the community. The
monument depicts a mother's hands in bronze, knitting into a
cross-stone. For the first time in the diaspora, an Armenian Genocide
commemorative monument was installed on government property.
For more information about the artist and Peace of Art projects, visit
www.PeaceofArt.org. Images of the art work from the Romantic
Expressionist series can be viewed at www.CollectorsPalette.com.
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2014/09/05/journey-art-daniel-varoujan-hejinian-peace-art-exhibit/