Paul Guiragossian (Lebanese, 1926-1993)

'Earlier, when I wanted to paint death, I used horizontal lines. But as my style in painting was developing, I came to understand that death could be expressed with verticals. It is the form of a standing man that suffices in expressing anything.'
(Paul Guiragossian, quoted.)

Within his expansive range of captivating paintings, Paul Guiragossian shares his ultimate personal journey combined with his creative vision to leave the viewer with a vocabulary that represents an authentic human reality. From his early academic canvases until his later abstract compositions, Guiragossian's work reflects a relentless struggle to summon the images of his formative years and actively draws on his heritage and migratory experience for inspiration.

Shadadde 2 from the 1980s references Shaddade that was one of the main sites of the massacre that happened during the Armenian Genocide. Born in Jerusalem to survivors of the Armenian Genocide himself, Guiragossian was deeply affected by the plight of his fellow Armenians and later Palestinians as he was later forced to relocate from Palestine to Lebanon.

Using thick black vertical brush strokes, Guiragossian captures the despair and misery of a group standing, evoking through his use of black, their inevitable end. If his figures cling to one another so closely that they seem to interpenetrate, it is because they know that the separation, the absence, the solitude that they vaguely fear will come all too soon.
As 2015 marks the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Shadadde 2 serves as a poignant reminder of this atrocious event that haunts many generations today.