Берберян Ваге
Берберян Ваче
Berberian Vahe
Ваче Берберян
Welcome to the official website of world-reknowned artist, Vahé Berberian. Here you will find a selection of Vahé's collected artwork and writings.
We hope you will enjoy these pages. Please check back often for frequent updates and news about Vahé, including new paintings and upcoming exhibitions of his work.
Vahé's exciting artwork is featured in the collections of many prominent collectors throughout the world. If you are interested in purchasing any of the artwork on display in Vahé's web Gallery, please feel free to contact us via email. Remember to visit the Store to purchase Vahé's posters, videos and books.
Thank you for visiting VahéBerberian.com.
At 6'2", Vahé, with his long, soft-gray, braided hair and strong, angular features immediately attracts attention. But, it his personality and his work that captures peoples' hearts.
Vahé Berberian, an Armenian painter, author, playwright and actor, was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1955. He grew up in Beirut in an intellectual milieu. His parents' home was a meeting place open to friends from the worlds of theatre, literature and the arts. He later relocated to Los Angeles, where he has been a resident since 1976. Vahé studied art in both Lebanon and the United States; and he received a degree in journalism with honors in 1980.
"I find it hard to label myself with an 'ism' that would categorize my painting style," says Berberian. "I believe that any attempt of recreating reality would be simple illustration," he says. "An artist creates his own reality, and reality, according to Aragon, is that which has no contradictions. It entails no conscious thought, creating without boundaries and laws. No conscious thought means no doubts, which means you're in a reality that is fascinating."
Vahé has participated in more than 30 individual and group exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. "His work is about who he is." Caroline Lais-Tufenkian, the curator of Vahé's most recent one-man show, says, "Berberian is successfully working from his hybrid cultural background. Several components have been the key in the construction of his complex and rich aesthetic identity: His cross-cultural background, modern abstract expressions and him being a Los Angeles artist. Berberian offers a new dialect to the western artistic style of abstract expressionism."
Berberian has always painted as a complement to writing and acting, never able to forfeit one form of art for another. "Theatre is conditional on what others do, and its temporality is limiting, whereas painting is personal, direct and does not need a mediator. However, each form feeds on the other, pushing its influence into the world of the other."
Berberian's artwork has made its way into the presitigious homes of collectors, such as Opera Director, Peter Sellars; actress, Mariett Hartley; former Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ernest Fleischmann; Canadian filmmaker, Atom Egoyan; Paris fashion designer, Sonia Rykel; Paris publishers, Alain and Raymonde Nave; architect, Frank Israel among others. Vahé's works have also been displayed in films, such as Oscar-winning films, Adaptation, Spiderman 1 & 2, Jersey Girl, Permanent Midnight, Jawbreaker, Executive Power, Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her, and The Big Brass Ring. His work has also been featured in the Emmy-winning series 24 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
News
“…Vahé Berberian sets his vigorous hand to more overtly painterly, as well as more inscriptive, tasks… springing into a modern version of manuscript illumination — not quite comic book, not quite expressionist phantasm, not quite doodle, not quite graffiti, and — knowingly, despite the title of the show (In Sanity) — not quite a madman’s markings.”
Peter Frank LA Weekly
“Discovering the very personal art of Vahé Berberian is like finding ancient treasure maps, like watching a child first declare his existence for posterity, and like climbing inside a weaving loom that hides the myths of hundreds of years of ethnic rites. The apparent simplicity of his images and scribbled messages has been achieved by mastering his skills not only as a visual artist, but also as a writer, director, performer, and survivor of life hurdles insurmountable by ordinary people.”
Grady Harp Curator
“…Vahé Berberian's paintings are reminiscent of the graffiti-like works of Cy Twombly and cartoon-like images in the recent works of Philip Guston. When viewing a gallery filled with Vahé Berberian's paintings, the viewer can see a repetition of process, and yet each painting is clearly unique. The artist's method is recognizable, his marks are distinctive, his "handwriting " is clearly his own, and there is a repetitive vocabulary of images that appear and reappear in his paintings. However, Berberian's paintings defy interpretation. He reveals only isolated words and never complete thoughts, his painting obscures as much as it describes. There is no identifiable context for his everyday words and images -- animal and human forms, umbrellas and rain, tables and chairs, along with various references to plumbing -- and yet, they appear again and again. It isn't possible to construct a single meaning for any particular image, because there are multiple possibilities and their meanings must be reconsidered each time because the context changes within each painting.”
Noel Korten Curator, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
"If you took everything away from him it would not matter. For he would make art out of the air. I know, for I’ve seen his shadow work by the naked light"
Michael Johnston Playwright
Publications
2005 Armenian Palette: New Generation by Henrik Igityan, Yerevan, Armenia
2005 Pakine - “Vahe Berberian: Art and Sanctity", Beirut Lebanon.
2003 LA Weekly - “Pick of the Week,” Vahé Berberian’s In Sanity.
2003 Armenian Contemporary Artists - From Ararat to Armenia, Catalogue.
2002 Agenda: 4 Paintings - Arvest 2002, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 Agenda: 2 Paintings - Sonia Rykiel 2002, Paris, France.
2001 Modern Icon: Exhibition Catalogue - Los Angeles, CA.
2000 AIM Magazine - April Issue, Los Angeles, CA.
2000 Agenda - Sonia Rykiel 2000, Paris, France.
1997 Agenda: 2 Paintings - Sonia Rykiel 1997, Paris, France.
1996 Vahé Berberian: Pages From a Diary - Arvest Press, Los Angeles, CA.
1995 Agenda - Pilgrims Also Die, Sonia Rykiel 1995. July 1, Paris, France.
1994 Cahiers Intenpestifs - Editions S'printer, Saint Etienne, France.
1994 Agenda - Balcony, Sonia Rykiel 1994. September 30. Paris, France.
1994 Art Agenda '94 - Paradise Lost, AAA Publishing, March 28, Quebec, Canada.
1992 Les Peintres du Desir - How Many Like Me" Noel, Bernard. Pages 156-157, Paris, France. http://www.vaheberberian.com/about.html
http://www.roslin.com/artinfo/artframes/vahe_berberian.htm
Vahe Berberian
Welcome to the official website of world-reknowned artist, Vahé Berberian. Here you will find a selection of Vahé's collected artwork and writings.
We hope you will enjoy these pages. Please check back often for frequent updates and news about Vahé, including new paintings and upcoming exhibitions of his work.
Vahé's exciting artwork is featured in the collections of many prominent collectors throughout the world. If you are interested in purchasing any of the artwork on display in Vahé's web Gallery, please feel free to contact us via email. Remember to visit the Store to purchase Vahé's posters, videos and books.
Thank you for visiting VahéBerberian.com.
At 6'2", Vahé, with his long, soft-gray, braided hair and strong, angular features immediately attracts attention. But, it his personality and his work that captures peoples' hearts.
Vahé Berberian, an Armenian painter, author, playwright and actor, was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1955. He grew up in Beirut in an intellectual milieu. His parents' home was a meeting place open to friends from the worlds of theatre, literature and the arts. He later relocated to Los Angeles, where he has been a resident since 1976. Vahé studied art in both Lebanon and the United States; and he received a degree in journalism with honors in 1980.
"I find it hard to label myself with an 'ism' that would categorize my painting style," says Berberian. "I believe that any attempt of recreating reality would be simple illustration," he says. "An artist creates his own reality, and reality, according to Aragon, is that which has no contradictions. It entails no conscious thought, creating without boundaries and laws. No conscious thought means no doubts, which means you're in a reality that is fascinating."
Vahé has participated in more than 30 individual and group exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. "His work is about who he is." Caroline Lais-Tufenkian, the curator of Vahé's most recent one-man show, says, "Berberian is successfully working from his hybrid cultural background. Several components have been the key in the construction of his complex and rich aesthetic identity: His cross-cultural background, modern abstract expressions and him being a Los Angeles artist. Berberian offers a new dialect to the western artistic style of abstract expressionism."
Berberian has always painted as a complement to writing and acting, never able to forfeit one form of art for another. "Theatre is conditional on what others do, and its temporality is limiting, whereas painting is personal, direct and does not need a mediator. However, each form feeds on the other, pushing its influence into the world of the other."
Berberian's artwork has made its way into the presitigious homes of collectors, such as Opera Director, Peter Sellars; actress, Mariett Hartley; former Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ernest Fleischmann; Canadian filmmaker, Atom Egoyan; Paris fashion designer, Sonia Rykel; Paris publishers, Alain and Raymonde Nave; architect, Frank Israel among others. Vahé's works have also been displayed in films, such as Oscar-winning films, Adaptation, Spiderman 1 & 2, Jersey Girl, Permanent Midnight, Jawbreaker, Executive Power, Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her, and The Big Brass Ring. His work has also been featured in the Emmy-winning series 24 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
“…Vahé Berberian sets his vigorous hand to more overtly painterly, as well as more inscriptive, tasks… springing into a modern version of manuscript illumination — not quite comic book, not quite expressionist phantasm, not quite doodle, not quite graffiti, and — knowingly, despite the title of the show (In Sanity) — not quite a madman’s markings.”
Peter Frank LA Weekly
“Discovering the very personal art of Vahé Berberian is like finding ancient treasure maps, like watching a child first declare his existence for posterity, and like climbing inside a weaving loom that hides the myths of hundreds of years of ethnic rites. The apparent simplicity of his images and scribbled messages has been achieved by mastering his skills not only as a visual artist, but also as a writer, director, performer, and survivor of life hurdles insurmountable by ordinary people.”
Grady Harp Curator
“…Vahé Berberian's paintings are reminiscent of the graffiti-like works of Cy Twombly and cartoon-like images in the recent works of Philip Guston. When viewing a gallery filled with Vahé Berberian's paintings, the viewer can see a repetition of process, and yet each painting is clearly unique. The artist's method is recognizable, his marks are distinctive, his "handwriting " is clearly his own, and there is a repetitive vocabulary of images that appear and reappear in his paintings. However, Berberian's paintings defy interpretation. He reveals only isolated words and never complete thoughts, his painting obscures as much as it describes. There is no identifiable context for his everyday words and images -- animal and human forms, umbrellas and rain, tables and chairs, along with various references to plumbing -- and yet, they appear again and again. It isn't possible to construct a single meaning for any particular image, because there are multiple possibilities and their meanings must be reconsidered each time because the context changes within each painting.”
Noel Korten Curator, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
"If you took everything away from him it would not matter. For he would make art out of the air. I know, for I’ve seen his shadow work by the naked light"
Michael Johnston Playwright
2005 Armenian Palette: New Generation by Henrik Igityan, Yerevan, Armenia
2005 Pakine - “Vahe Berberian: Art and Sanctity", Beirut Lebanon.
2003 LA Weekly - “Pick of the Week,” Vahé Berberian’s In Sanity.
2003 Armenian Contemporary Artists - From Ararat to Armenia, Catalogue.
2002 Agenda: 4 Paintings - Arvest 2002, Los Angeles, CA.
2002 Agenda: 2 Paintings - Sonia Rykiel 2002, Paris, France.
2001 Modern Icon: Exhibition Catalogue - Los Angeles, CA.
2000 AIM Magazine - April Issue, Los Angeles, CA.
2000 Agenda - Sonia Rykiel 2000, Paris, France.
1997 Agenda: 2 Paintings - Sonia Rykiel 1997, Paris, France.
1996 Vahé Berberian: Pages From a Diary - Arvest Press, Los Angeles, CA.
1995 Agenda - Pilgrims Also Die, Sonia Rykiel 1995. July 1, Paris, France.
1994 Cahiers Intenpestifs - Editions S'printer, Saint Etienne, France.
1994 Agenda - Balcony, Sonia Rykiel 1994. September 30. Paris, France.
1994 Art Agenda '94 - Paradise Lost, AAA Publishing, March 28, Quebec, Canada.
1992 Les Peintres du Desir - How Many Like Me" Noel, Bernard. Pages 156-157, Paris, France.
Vahe Berberian
With his three one man shows - "Dagaveen," "Yevaylen," and "Nayev" - Berberian has established himself as the leading Armenian monologist. Playwright, novelist, artist and actor, Berberian has been involved in theatre from a very young age, having been a member of the Experimental Theatre and Theatre 67 companies in Lebanon. Since settling in Los Angeles in 1977, he has founded the Armenian Experimental Theatre, acted in more than a dozen plays, and done voice-over work on some 30 films, such as Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games, and Armageddon. Berberian?s two highly acclaimed novels, Letters From Zaatar and In the Name of the Father and the Son, have made him one of the most respected and widely read authors in the Armenian Diaspora.
Website: www.vaheberberian.com
PRODUCTIONS
ARVEST COMEDY NIGHT I — A collection of short comedy skits and sketches, co-written by Vatchig Ter Sarkissian and Henrik Mansourian. Premiered in Los Angeles, in 1996, by Arvest. Directed by Vahe Berberian.
ARVEST COMEDY NIGHT II — A collection of short comedy skits and sketches, co-written by Vatchig Ter Sarkissian and Henrik Mansourian. Premiered in Los Angeles, in 1998, by Arvest. Directed by Vahe Berberian.
ARVEST COMEDY NIGHT III — A collection of short comedy skits and sketches, co-written by Vatchig Ter Sarkissian and Henrik Mansourian. Premiered in Los Angeles, in 2002, by Arvest. Directed by Vahe Berberian and Betty Berberian.
200 — Four friends meet for a backyard game of ?Belot? on a hot Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. They discuss their dreams, their disappointments, life in Los Angeles and the condition of the Armenian Diaspora. Co-written by Ara Madzounian and Betty Berberian. Premiered in Los Angeles, in 1989, at the Golden Theatre, by the Experimental Theatre Company.
QUICKSAND — Two young men living in Los Angeles in the mid-eighties, travel to Beirut, Lebanon. One of them wishes to see his family and the other wants to persuade his estranged girlfriend to come back to LA with him. Premiered in Los Angeles, in 1987, at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, by the Experimental Theatre Company. Directed by Vahe Berberian.
PINK ELEPHANT — Six Armenian actors rehearse for a play scheduled to open the following night, while outside their rehearsal hall the sounds of artillery fire approach ever closer. The actors are rehearsing an absurdist play that deals directly with the realities of Armenian life in Lebanon during the Civil War Premiered in Los Angeles, in 1985, at the Assistance League Playhouse, by the Experimental Theatre Company. Directed by Vahe Berberian. The English translation of Pink Elephant was produced in London, Edinburgh, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
THE NIGHT VISITOR — After spending 17 years in a mental institution for murdering Desdemona onstage during a production of Othello, Adam, the actor playing the part of the Moor, is set free. However, far from being cured, Adam returns to the scene of the crime to finish the play he thinks he has left incomplete. The Night Visitor is a dark, somber drama that examines the boundaries of life and art. Premiered in Toronto, Canada, in 1977, by Arthur Adamoff Experimental Theatre.
PUBLICATIONS
LETTERS FROM ZAATAR — Published by Arvest, 1996, Los Angeles. (In English and Armenian.)
PAGES FROM DIARY — Published by Arvest, 1995, Los Angeles. (In English and Armenian.) Includes an autobiography, an interview and samples of the artist's work, many of them full page and in color.
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND THE SON — Published by I-Ben Printing, 1999, Los Angeles.
http://www.aiwa-net.org/AIWAwriters/
Title: Nayev: Vahe Berberian Live at Rococo Performer: Vahe Berberian Produced by: Betty Berberian and Sevag Vrej Wet Paint in association with Pomegranate Pictures Genre: Comedy Date: July 2002 Language(s): Western Armenian Format: VHS
http://www.vaheberberian.com/home.html
Welcome to the official website of world-reknowned artist, Vahé Berberian. Here you will find a selection of Vahé's collected artwork and writings.
We hope you will enjoy these pages. Please check back often for frequent updates and news about Vahé, including new paintings and upcoming exhibitions of his work.
Vahé's exciting artwork is featured in the collections of many prominent collectors throughout the world. If you are interested in purchasing any of the artwork on display in Vahé's web Gallery, please feel free to contact us via email. Remember to visit the Store to purchase Vahé's posters, videos and books.
Thank you for visiting VahéBerberian.com.
VISIT THE ART GALLERY НЕ ОТКРЫЛСЯ САЙТ
Vahe Berberian
Vah? Berberian, an Armenian painter, author, playwright and actor, was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1955. He grew up in Beirut in an intellectual milieu. His parents' home was a meeting place open to friends from the worlds of theatre, literature and the arts. He later relocated to Los Angeles, where he has been a resident since 1976. Vah? studied art in both Lebanon and the United States; and he received a degree in journalism with honors in 1980.
He paints, and does one man dialogues which are popular live and recorded.
http://www.vaheberberian.com - official website
