Narek Arzumanyan

°1988, Armenia
Lives and works in Nürnberg, Germany.

“I paint only things I have experienced myself — in my life, in my imagination, or in the stories of others. So the question is not whether my works are fiction or reality. The answer is: every canvas is me.”

Narek Arzumanyan — an Armenian artist who looks like a caricature of an Armenian artist — paints his biography while giving priority to dreams and demons, myths and poems.

The figurative artist who fiercely attacks his canvases with oil paint was born in Yerevan. In Armenia, he was on his way to becoming an established name. He won important awards. But he became seriously ill, in a life-threatening way. For humanitarian reasons, he was allowed to seek treatment in Germany. Since 2011, he has been living and working in Nuremberg with his wife and two children.

Arzumanyan is reserved and contemplative. “Sometimes I sit on my sofa for days, staring at a blank canvas. Then I am painting from a distance. I am gathering courage. Because true art remains an unattainable sanctuary for me. I deliberately break its rules, I think, as if I unconsciously want to sabotage myself. I don’t understand my own works. Maybe that’s why I love them so much.”

Every canvas by Narek, often a mixture of seriousness and humor, is full of symbolism. “Symbolism is a cornerstone of all art. My symbols are simple. I use both a skull and a gallows, as well as Bert and Ernie. My father once drew a fox. I asked him, ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ He replied, ‘If it’s smoking a cigarette, it’s a boy.’ That’s perfectly clear. I like that.”