His exhibition at Parasol Unit in London closed late last month, but don’t expect Armen Eloyan, who lives and works in Amsterdam and Zurich, to disappear any time soon since the zany paint master has a reputation that gathering steam.
Having not seen the works in person, I will turn the mic over to BBC’s Collective interactive culture magazine (Issue #246) for their take on the July London show:
Thick paint is smeared over…in a globule fashion. The fevered brushwork, which creates extremely textual layers, entices you up close to scenes of a perplexing, horrific and sexual nature played out by curious characters. Often using multiple canvases mimicking the stills of a cartoon, you move through the desolate landscapes inhabited by angry mice, dead bunnies, lumberjacks and uniform-clad figures frame by frame.
Adopting a dull and muddy palette, all that’s missing from these characters in a state of distress, anger and contemplation, are the speech bubbles. Referring to folklore and using recurring motifs of the toybox gone awry, there’s also an underlying humour in Eloyan’s sinister paintings hinted at through the titles and his choice of bizarre protagonist. Ultimately it’s his obvious enjoyment of painting, evident in the zealous paint application and exploration of obscure narrative, that strikes you most. (source)
Check out some of these links for more info on the Armenia-born painter:
- Parasol unit for the London show write up and images;
- the Antwerp’s Office Baroque gallery for more Eloyan images;
- a quirky essay on Eloyan’s work by Wim Peeters called “Who Killed Bambi?“;
- Artforum‘s take on Eloyan’s first solo show in Switzerland in 2006 via CultureTV Gallery Blog; and
- a video by Bob Van Orsouw of the Swiss show.
{Above image courtesy bunnylicious}
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