Armen Agop’s Minimalist Approach to Sculpture and Painting in Italy and Egypt

What many of us normally perceive as ordinary for him is an inspirational starting point. He stated: “If I want to talk about strength, I might talk about tears. Actually, with the paintings, there is no demonstration of abilities or skills. Anybody can do it. It is like intensifying the soberness of the smallest element and giving more importance to the least valuable element which we usually ignore. The point, which is the beginning of any line, is where I begin and where I choose to stop, repeating it over and over and being content with that, accepting the least and believing in its power to magnify something unknown inside us through time.”

Through his words, you sense his passion for art. As any child, he drew and never found a good reason to stop, he said, “until reaching a certain age, when we discover that society calls that instinctive drive art and the one who practices it an artist. I believe artists are the ones who can’t ignore their instinctive drive. Then the main mission is to carry on protecting the purity of that instinct from the continued perseverance of society to influence it and canalize it.”

His connection to sculpture was not merely reflective. He further elucidates: “I guess that it is not that I was attracted to the art of sculpture itself, as much as I was and am attracted to the act of sculpting, to practicing the verb of sculpting. I believe it is an instinctive drive. As a kid I was attracted to drawing or modeling clay. Connecting with another part of nature, such as a stone or color, is a way to connect with the whole world, even if someone is not aware of it at his young age.”

Black granite is his main medium of expression, as it has many interesting characteristics. He says that the reason above all others for this is his instinctive connection with the stone. According to his description, its neutral aspect allows him to pursue his interest to articulate silence; the compactness and hardness require a slow rhythm and long process which permits him to discover what he really desires to share with the stone. For him, it’s about sharing time with this substance and coming to a point of agreement. “Granite resists time and change, yet is optimistic to the future,” he proclaims.

His artistic style is described as minimalist. He comments: “I know my work many times has been described as minimal, which is a term that changed its meaning in the public understanding and now is being used for simplicity.” In this regard, Armen gives us a brief about minimalist art born in the US in the 1960-70’s with different motivations and perspectives, relating it to his work that is driven by an ascetic approach (through a meditative process) which deals with soberness and simplicity, and trying to focus on the core values.

He said: “I guess, in a way, it is a prolongation of a belief system (the belief system I mentioned earlier). It’s more important for me to do the work than having it made better by others. By choosing the most basic elements, like a point or a line, and believing in their potential, through a meditative practice, I face these elements again and again, each time discovering a new way of being and a different dimension of existence.”

Through his artwork, Armen attempts to explore all the things that he does not talk about with others. More than just as a theme, he gives priority to meditative practice and the spiritual aspect. At the core of what he does in the studio is to follow his instincts and interests. He first explores and tries to understand them and then maybe puts them in context. He elaborates: “I just play. It all starts with playing. When I come to a point where I feel I need to pursue and develop something, I carry on blindly and obsessively, digging deeper, with an unexplainable belief — an irrational conviction that it might lead to something (without having any proof). It becomes a matter of faith. I don’t work, I either play or pray.”

The main struggle he has faced during his career is to stay faithful to the instinctive drive without letting the others/surroundings/societies impose their needs and temptations with their offers of superficial success and career-oriented banalities. “The main struggle is to just be who we are in our own nature, to resist the pressure of a society who wants to push us in such a way that they can understand, conceptualize or be entertained,” he concluded.

He described his exhibition “Taking Time” as a meeting of painting and sculpture, a body of work that is focused on a meditative practice which resulted in spiritual contemporary art. The works exhibited for the first time in Italy are quite distant from the Italian lifestyle or Western values of understanding time. He said, “Many Western cultures value more speed and outward strength. On the other hand, the exhibition was concerned with spirituality and inwardness and not speed or external power.”

Other Forms of Art

When it comes to music, he is mostly drawn to pure music without words or lyrics, especially folk music. In spite of geographical distances separating various creators of the latter, he exclaims that this musical genre can be very close in spirit everywhere. It usually depends on very basic instruments and so the music of different regions can have a lot of common links.

Armen even connects this kind of music with his artistic approach to sculpture, asserting that the non-representative aspect of pure music without lyrics, especially folk music, is very close to him. He encourages us to adopt his approach, saying that when we listen to lyrics they may be heroic or emotional or any other type; but when we listen only to instrumental music, this can open us to something we didn’t know about or touch a hidden part of us.

He added, “Words have meanings which activate our thinking. Although they can be very meaningful, they can also be limiting. I believe art is beyond meaning. The same happens in visual arts. I believe the most confusing aspect of visual art is its appearance. Whenever we see something, we try to associate it with something we already know. So the appearance of an artwork is a big obstacle to perceiving the core of the work.”