By Amy Fendley Who: Berge Missakian Where: adele-campbell Fine Art Gallery When: July 31, 7-10 p.m. Internationally-acclaimed Berge Missakian is a contemporary artist, storyteller and depicter of objects. Drawn in a space of uncertain dimensions, Missakian’s fragmented objects are broken into geometric plains. He paints simple objects without pretension, in perfect relation with an abstract reality; a reality with several points of view. As a storyteller, Missakian, who has been painting for 32 years, plays with objects in the realm of fantasy. He constructs his canvases with sober yet skilful composition, transgressing the limits of reality. He conducts a movement of lines and begins to contradict the abstraction of forms, while maintaining a persistent relationship with figuration. The colour explodes, and is literally expelled from the fibres of the canvas. Missakian’s recent works fuse logic and joy in a generous offering of colour and shapes. Nonstop Jazz, his most recent series of large still life, are a tribute to his influences and offer music, fruit and wine as a common legacy. "I want to celebrate life in my paintings, with ecstasy over passivity, movement over inertia, and joy over melancholia," says Missakian. "The theme is music, jazz, I’m very much inspired by jazz and dedicated to jazz. I used to play the banjo, it’s real jazzy, but now that’s all finished and I play with my brushes." Born in Egypt, Missakian has lived in Montreal since 1962. He studied art at Cornell and Concordia Universities. His work has garnered numerous solo exhibitions nationally and internationally and can be found in many private and corporate collections across Canada, the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan. Last year Missakian had three shows, in Montreal, North Carolina and Alabama, and all were sold out. "Local residents will remember Missakian for his generous donation of images for the Music in the Mountains poster series," notes Paula Campbell, owner of the adele-campbell Fine Art Gallery. Missakian brings 37 original works, serigraphs and lithographs, to the adele-campbell Fine Art Gallery for exhibition and sale, July 30 to Aug. 15. A public reception will be held Saturday, July 31 from 7 to 10 p.m. www.missakianart.com
