TOMORROW

November 19, 2021 – February 20, 2022 The Cafesjian Center for the Arts presents the exhibition, TOMORROW featuring seventeen Armenian contemporary artists. Group projects give an opportunity not only to display more authors, but also to refer to more topics, genres, layers in a broader comprehensive perspective. It has already been the third such show implemented at the Center. Nevertheless, compared to previous exhibitions, such as Reconsidering Nature and 11: Selections of Armenian Contemporary Abstract Art, the span of the TOMORROW show is much bigger; it does not focus on just one theme, but tries to reveal the current state of contemporary visual art in Armenia.

What is going on with visual arts today in Armenia and what to expect tomorrow? Does the contemporary fine art in Armenia follow the current worldwide art tendencies topics, styles, technique and media wise? It is impossible to answer these questions through a single exhibition, but it is possible to present some layers of contemporary art in Armenia, which the wider public is not that familiar with and which refer to the questions above.

The works by seventeen artists featured in Eagle and Sasuntsi Davit Garden galleries  are mostly two-dimensional, created mainly with traditional media and technique; although in case of topics and approach those are relevant and sometimes even innovative. Historically, painting and working with image in general has always been the most prevailing and accomplished art field in Armenia, and this exhibition is a litmus test to highlight that the tradition is still firm. This fact also reveals the gaps in the contemporary art scene of Armenia.

The artists in TOMORROW exhibition are from the independence generation. In this regard, it is captivating to follow what common topics, artistic approach and styles separate or, on the contrary, connect these different artists. In regard of technique and media, the scope is really wide: from oil on canvas to printmaking, photography, collage, embroidery, mosaics and ready-made. 

In both galleries, in over sixty pieces one can notice that despite the technique, there are some topics and discourses that stand out: narratives of everyday life and household, intimate and biographical layers, post-modernist rethinking of classical art or cultural-historical heritage, local interpretation of pop-art and conceptual art, new manifestation of landscape and abstract art, artists’ self-reflection, new aesthetics not only on canvas but also in sculpture.

Presented for the first time at the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, these artists create a platform for future individual and group projects, where we will continue discovering the contemporary Armenian art yet to come, collaborating not only with these but also other artists.

Eagle Gallery
Siranush Aghajanyan
Gayane Avetissian
Narek Barseghyan
Kima Gyarakyan
Armen Hakobjanyan
Manvel Matevosyan
Nareh Petrossian
Grigor Simonyan

Sasuntsi Davit Garden Gallery
Milena Adamyan
Mary Badalian
Gayane Barkhudaryan
Anush Davtyan
Karen Khachaturov
Anna Krtshatsyan
Narek Hakobyan
Manvel Matevosyan
Davit Kochunts
Levon Fljyan