Agop Gemdjian
About
I was born in 1952 in Varna, Bulgaria, of Armenian descent and has been living in the U.S. since 1991. I have exhibited in more than 20 national juried exhibitions in Bulgaria and also in The Netherlands, Poland, UK, Germany Canada, Russia and more. I have shown my work in more than 25 solo exhibitions. My art is shown in more than 100 juried and invitational exhibitions in USA. I have Prizes and Awards for my work in Painting, Sculpture, Drawings and Photography. My work is used in several motion pictures and TV shows.
Many articles and interviews have been published in journals, newspapers and web blogs. My work is included in the collections of Methodological fund of art schools of Bashkortostan Republic of RF, Collection of the International Print Biennale Yerevan, Armenia, Collection of OSTEN BIENNAL of drawing. Skopje, Macedonia, Minot State University’s permanent collection, Permanent collection of UT at Tyler, TX, Permanent Collection of The College of New Jersey, Print club of Albany, NY, Permanent collection, The Bulgarian National Art Museum, The Sofia City Art Museum, Bulgaria, The Museum of Prints, Varna, Bulgaria, The Walker Group, Amoco Art Collection, Barnes Associates, Westinghouse Art Collection and Museums University’s and private collections in more than 15 countries as France, Germany, Canada US, UK and Japan.
Artist Statement
After several years of work in graphic techniques, painting, sculpture, and art installations, I am now reaching my artistic maturity, as I am creating art, using all my experiences as an artist and a person, an Armenian by origin, born and raised in Bulgaria, and now working in the United States.
In any art there is a story. Your story. A story as you imagine it in the moment of enjoying the art itself. In this way I think of myself as a storyteller, even if the story is just a kind of wink that inspires you to make up your own.
In my work I combine the bright colors of the east, Slavic mentality, my views of the modern world, and the inner force of the icons and dynamics of the contemporary world.
With my work I would like to discover beauty in everything, its meaning, its independent existence. I would like to reveal everything that surrounds us - words, objects, sounds, feelings, and signs.
I believe direct contact between my soul and my hand is the only way to express the reality of our surroundings.
My goal is to be directed by my instincts and my emotions while creating, to be influenced by my subconscious view of the image and the idea of merging with my art beyond the level of my five senses.
I strive to awaken associations and emotions in the viewer that would bring them to the same spiritual state as I am in while working, not by shocking them but by inviting a closer scrutiny of the world.
My credo, my emotions and feelings, my thoughts, memories and insights, my troubles, joys and dreams are all in my works.