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By Peter Frank This is the message that underlies Arthur Sarkissian’s oeuvre. In Sarkissian’s paintings what-is-known meets what-is-felt within the bounds of the picture plane. What is “felt” – embodied in Sarkissian’s painterly gestures and rich coloration – maintains its integrity, and what is “known” – concretized in the images Sarkissian finds in mass media and transfers to the heart of his artworks – continues to evince its source in widely disseminated formats such as newspapers and books. But despite this obvious polarity, Sarkissian effects a remarkably easy and unstrained flow between the felt and the known, between raw brushstroke and transferred image. Each element becomes not just a foil, but a partner, for the other. A passage lifted (not literally, as in collage, but photographically, through silkscreen) from an art history textbook or illuminated manuscript or magazine still “reports” its information, but becomes at the same time a factor in a larger composition, enmeshed in painterly incident. Meanwhile, without losing the passion invested in it by Sarkissian’s hand, such painterly incident is ordered into a certain rational structure, one that echoes the lexical coherence that photographic imagery promulgates.

Sarkissian’s paintings are at once wholes and sums of parts, and they “talk” to us in several visual languages at once. Such a polyglot, polysemic art is hardly unique to Sarkissian. We see his style anticipated by Robert Rauschenberg, and before him Kurt Schwitters. We even see its textures and practices, as well as philosophical positions, reflected in the work of such disparate predecessors as Warhol, Cornell, Miro, Malevich, and, of course, Picasso. Among other things, Sarkissian demonstrates that the “collage aesthetic” – the simultaneously disjunctive and conjunctive qualities that uniquely define modern composition – remains one of 20th century art’s most significant and enduring legacies. Indeed, this collage aesthetic provides the perceptual crucible in which the dialectic described above is forged, and it defines the particular visual world in which Sarkissian finds his expression.

Above all, Sarkissian’s is an art of transition, a demonstration of the flow of human experience from the felt to the known, from the intuited to the studied, and back again. What is felt is itself important, and so is what is known – and we must note Sarkissian’s preoccupation with architectural structures, art-historical artifacts, and the visual record of various histories, in particular that of the Armenian people. From one vantage, Sarkissian’s oeuvre can certainly be seen as an examination of the relationship between his cultural heritages, Caucasian and European. It is not the particulars of this relationship, cultural or sociological, that provide the true substance of Sarkissian’s art, however, but its very nature as a relationship, that is, as a moment of transition. Does this ongoing “moment” take place in real time and space, across seas and centuries? Certainly. But more importantly, it takes place metaphysically in Sarkissian’s mind and heart, as well as in those of his fellow Armenians (and for that matter, Georgians, Azeris, and even Russians).

Europe may give way to Asia in the Caucasus, but what Sarkissian paints is Europe and Asia giving way to one another in his soul. Many levels of dialectical opposition thus pertain in Sarkissian’s painting. How it is conceived and how it is fabricated, how it looks and how it “reads,” what it contains and what it means, who it speaks for and how it speaks for him and/or them – all these polarities and more determine the work’s compelling vitality. Elegant and raw, chaotic and lucid, expansive and deliberate, the art of Arthur Sarkissian does not so much resolve a universe of opposites as flourish in its balance.Los Angeles, June 2006

If the wall obstructs the eye, confining the scene, a picture hanging on the same wall provides a window for the observer. This abstract surface, like a window, opens to reveal the inner landscape that lies beyond. The pictures of Arthur Sarkissian examine the architectonic aspects of both wall and window. They appear to make allusion to spatial relationships.

In fact, what is open or closed, emerging or indefinite, what is inside or outside the wall, is not, after all, a natural space, a landscape, or a distant perspective. These pictures enable the eye to glide, fix, and return to a point on the canvas, confirming the materialization of time.

This materialized time is the artist’s target, as well as its structures—the present and the past. In this apparently immutable present, in its spatial and temporal birthplace, is a painting that may be touched like a wall, human skin, or the stem of a plant. It is the material, and its manifestations include the rough exposed canvas, the fixed template of paint, the oozing glides of color, and the brush strokes that fix the boundaries of the work.

It is this substantive present that impedes and screens time itself and makes us forget its provisional nature. In Arthur Sarkissian’s case, to uncover this disposition of time means to tear apart the surface of the present, to discover cracks and holes that let in the light of new possibilities. What is revealed is the total pictorial heritage of the past, from specimens of applied art to interiors and exteriors of diverse architectural styles; from seals, insignia, manuscripts and embroidery to the masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque art. August-December 2000

J.A. Trumpower, Art Historian In many respects Sarkissian’s use of paint can be said to be inspired by Jackson Pollock’s “drip style” but instead of Pollock’s depressive and muted tones Sarkissian’s use of vivid color gives the viewer a breath taking vision of ocean waves that continually crash upon the shore, only to be washed back out, then in again, then out again, and then in again. In this way his artworks are not stale or tied to the past but instead are all about movement, even though his artistic shoreline is one that is littered with the artifacts of history. The point that I’m making here is that unlike the shards of history, which serve to weigh Sarkissian’s canvases down, his strategic use of color imbues them with the inherent power to propel themselves forward into the viewer’s consciousness. As is clear to us all, the past is already known so the only thing left open to us is the future. And Sarkissian allows us to see a glimpse of that future with his amble and vivid use of color, which in its own way serves to signify thoughts of life, regeneration, and hope. In this way, the energy encapsulated within the swaths of color continually bursts forth upon the senses of the viewer in such a way as to carry them away from the staid boring past into the beautiful color-filled future of the unknown.Los Angeles, March 2010.

Between the Images:New Works by Arthur SarkissianMarch 27, 2010 to April 25, 2010Opening ReceptionSaturday, March 27, 6-10pm I have heard it said that art is dead that history is dead, and that might well be the truth, that is until one has looked upon the breathtaking and captivating beauty generated by the artworks of Arthur Sarkissian. Because Sarkissian has had such a lengthy and prolific artistic career many things have already been said and written about his artworks, and I’m not one to be in conflict whit such emanate Los Angeles writers as Mr. Peter Frank, whom has said: “The mediated photographic imagery Sarkissian appropriates, after all, is no less imbued with his passion than are his vigorous, often volcanic passages of the abstract brushwork. It is the passion of Sarkissian’s curiosity, his embrace of the world that prompts him to introduce photographic imagery into his paintings… We even see its textures and practices, as well as philosophical positions, reflected in the work of such disparate predecessors as Warhol, Cornell, Miro, Malevich, and, of course Picasso. Among other things, Sarkissian demonstrates that the “collage aesthetic” – the simultaneously disjunctive and conjunctive qualities that uniquely define modern composition – remains one of the most significant and enduring legacies of 20th century art.” -Peter Frank, Los Angeles, June 2006. And because of this fact I then think that perhaps I have nothing new to add to the discussion surrounding the artworks of Mr. Sarkissian. But then I look “Between the Images” of antique furniture, columns, figures, books, advertisements, maps, etc, and then I see that perhaps there is allot more that is crying out to be said about these works of such captivating beauty. Such as, these images of the antique are in actuality not just windows into the past they are instead portals that can transport us the viewer into the future. In my opinion this is the case because Sarkissian’s images of the historic touch the past while his use of color that is laid “Between the Images” themselves, is the energy source that is used to propel us the viewer, into the future and into the unknown. In many respects Sarkissian’s use of paint can be said to be inspired by Jackson Pollock’s “drip style” but instead of Pollock’s depressive and muted tones Sarkissian’s use of vivid color gives the viewer a breath taking vision of ocean waves that continually crash upon the shore, only to be washed back out, then in again, then out again, and then in again. In this way his artworks are not stale or tied to the past but instead are all about movement, even though his artistic shoreline is one that is littered with the artifacts of history. The point that I’m making here is that unlike the shards of history, which serve to weigh Sarkissian’s canvases down, his strategic use of color imbues them with the inherent power to propel themselves forward into the viewer’s consciousness. As is clear to us all, the past is already known so the only thing left open to us is the future. And Sarkissian allows us to see a glimpse of that future with his amble and vivid use of color, which in its own way serves to signify thoughts of life, regeneration, and hope. In this way, the energy encapsulated within the swaths of color continually bursts forth upon the senses of the viewer in such a way as to carry them away from the staid boring past into the beautiful color-filled future of the unknown. Concerning my observations about Mr. Sarkissian’s aesthetic, I hope that in some small way they serve to compel you the art lover to seek out his works in order to see for yourself weather my musing possess any merit. Which you can so easily do, by going to Artology 101 Gallery, 3108 Glendale Blvd. in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 27, from 6-10 PM for the opening reception of his new works Between The Images in order to see for yourself the effect his works have upon you. If I may extend a word of caution, remember to prepare yourself for a wild and thought provoking ride into the world of color, and if you are very, very fortunate, into the future of art. J.A. Trumpower, Art Historian, Los Angeles, March 2010.