Manuella Guiragossian (Lebanese, b. 1972)

Paul Guiragossian once said ‘I’ve had friends tell me that painting is supposed to brighten humanity, like that of Matisse, of Renoir. I have always responded that I could not tolerate such outburst of color. It contains a certain innocence that I could never have. Perhaps, I have suffered too much to be able to entertain. I am jealous of those who can.’ When I was born my father did his best to shelter me from the horrors of the Lebanese civil war and to protect my innocence through art, so that I never lose that childhood ability to ‘brighten humanity’ as he put it.
Today, my work has also found a new and more powerful purpose, and that’s to help people in need during their darkest time.
I am dedicating this bench to ‘brighten’ two people’s lives; the person who will take it home and include it in their art collection and my dear nephew who is fighting for his life as he just underwent a liver and kidney transplant, for which the proceeds of Bench #4 will support.
(Manuella Guiragossian, 2017).