Krikor Agopian
Krikor Agopian - Biography
Krikor Agopian was born in 1942 in Beirut, Lebanon. His Armenian heritage is deeply embedded in his work - influenced by the country's history and one of the worst genocides in human history (1915), Agopian's paintings serve as a reflection on an uprooted nation still searching for it's identity. After spending his youth in Palestine and Jaffa, Agopian left for Montreal in 1963 where he studied painting at Concordia University. He married Francine Fontaine in 1972 and together they traveled back to Lebanon where Agopian became a teacher at the Lebanese Academy of Arts from 1977 to 1981, followed by positions in Bayreuth and Kaslik at the University Saint-Esprit. Despite the political turmoil of Lebanon in the 1970s, Krikor continued to work on his art, which was undoubtedly influenced by these trying times.
In 1989, while traveling back to Quebec, the political upheaval and war in Lebanon grew to such an extreme that Krikor and his family were not able to return. In 1990 he made Quebec his permanent home and simultaneously began experimenting with handmade paper techniques in his work. Shortly, after Agopian won the Excellence Prize of Laval for his body of work, thus officially jump-starting an accomplished artistic career he has continued to cultivate ever since.
Recent Solo Exhibitions:
2011 - 2019: Five solo shows at Hamazkayin Lucy Tutunjian Art Gallery, Beirut
2005 - 2017: Six solo shows at Galerie Richelieu, Montreal, QC
2004: Aida Cherfan Fine Art, Beirut
2001: Carlen Gallery, Ottawa, ON
1999: Noah's Ark Gallery, Beirut
1998: Musée André Benjamin Papineau, QC
1996: Galerie Maraya, Beirut
1993: Galerie Epreuve d'Artiste, Kaslik Liban
Selected Awards:
2001: First Prize - Arabic Alphabet Design, London, UK
1998: First Prize - "Frontiers Figuratives" Surrealisme, 15ieme concours International des arts visueles, Montreal, QC
1997: First Prize - "Abstraction Diverses", 14ieme concours International des arts visueles, Montreal, QC
1996: Third Prize - "All categories," 13ieme concours International des arts visueles, Montreal, QC
Artist Specialization: Krikor Agopian is widely recognized for his unique approach to surrealism. He often uses visual motifs to symbolize greater themes and historical events. For example, early 2000 marked the beginning of his work on "Fruit des Dieux," in which the image of the pomegranate serves to connect us to his roots as an Armenian. He places the fruit in distorted spaces to create an optical illusion. The idea of "the mirage of appearances" is central to Agopian's practice. His 2013 series of large pine trees with deep, intersecting roots are emblematic of Lebanon. The trees are meant to bare witness to the long and bloody history of massacres in the country, where so many once stood but are now reduced to ripped trunks and exposed roots - nothing but wounds.
