Казаз Эмиль

Kazaz Emil

Казаз Эмиль

http://www.armeniaview.com/artists1.php?aid=123

Armenian Artists, Painters

Emil Kazaz Эмиль Казаз

Armenian born artist Emil Kazaz creates mythologically grounded figures within a realm of half-light. His themes are a blend of sensual mysticism and provocative introspection --beauty, love and valor prevail. Kazaz's characters are original, acutely observed, and marvelously refreshing --especially considering how well worn this territory is. Although often obscured by the appearance of conformity to western classical figurative tradition, his sophisticated and culturally diverse aesthetic psychology produces a living rather than mummified iconography, not from frozen in time but archetype dancing to our collective internal rhythms. Once you recognize his anti-formal dances, the classicism becomes transparent.

Kazaz straddles the creative philosophies of two world cultures, East and West, bodies in constant flux. He twists conventions together. Iridescent Arabic manuscript illuminations romp with Western compositional restraints -- emotion and color confronting line and form. These myth shrouded figures push us around, disturb our choices and decisions, without slick faddism. They attach themselves to something deep within each of us, and, like cartographers, provide maps for our humanity Early on, Kazaz abandoned the stiff realist paradise of his academic Soviet-styled Art School training, as well as the West's formalized penchant for abstraction and conceptualism. He sees both systems as obsolete and not helpful to the human catharsis within society. He also disclaims any connections to the self-centered political appropriateness advocated by much of today's criticism. To paraphrase the poet John Dryden, Art is the "image of nature". All theories of Art have made some allowance for both terms: image, a thing in itself, a construct; and nature, what the Art addresses or imitates. Kazaz imitates nothing and creates everything, leaving nothing to chance. In his work, nature is more ontological than semantic. He moves people from the center of the contemporary universe and reconnects them to metaphysics of our collective past. Pushing the viewer into a thoroughly personal macrocosm, Kazaz does not subordinate his mythic and "supernatural" beings to anything. Not the fuming of a malevolent Old Testament God or the godhaunted demiurge of Greek thought. His characters and situations exist in their present, always trying to meddle with their destiny, and like the adventurers of Homer, moving through unreal worlds of appearances where nothing is what it seems. Kazaz's approach to Art brings us to the fringe of human nature. Masked by rich color, pattern and texture, attached to brilliant forms, Kazaz's attention to detail is never for its own sake. They are links that connect us to his reconstruced nature, philosophical fragments burning with supernatural potency, that set boundaries and make rules. Kazaz's powers of imitation and aesthetic judgment fool us into thinking we know his terrain. However, upon closer inspection, we find ourselves questioning our very nature while tightly holding on to what we believe, and accepting flux as stability. There are countless gods, heroes, and demons in our world. You can find them everywhere. They are in Art, literature, and religion. Kazaz's vigilance catches these ethereal beings overseeing the normal routine of everyday people. Emil Kazaz has been living in Los Angeles, California, since the 80's, where he has been developing very successful international career. Adapted from "Emil Kazaz" and "Nature and the Art of Emil Kazaz" by Joe Lewis.

Biography: BIRTHPLACE Gyumri, Armenia -- 1953

EDUCATION 1965 - 1968 Mercurove Art School 1968 - 1972 Yerevan Terlemezian Art College 1972 - 1979 Yerevan University of Fine Art

RESIDENCE 1953 - 1980 Yerevan, Armenia 1980 - 1981 Rome, Italy 1981 - Present Los Angeles, California

EXHIBITION 1980 Olympic Art Festival, Moscow, Russia 1983 Wine Street Gallery, Hollywood, CA 1985 Orosco Gallery, Hollywood, CA 1986 AGBU Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1989 Kathleen Spiegleman Gallery, West Hollywood, CA 1991 Gallery Verona, Beverly Hills, CA Morosstudio Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA L.A. Art Associations, Los Angeles, CA

1992 Morosstudio Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA L.A. Art Associations, Los Angeles, CA

1993 Whitney Gallery, Palos Verdes, CA Morosstudio Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA International Art Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Rosovsky Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

1994 New Trend Art, Hong Kong Lerner Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA Rosovsky Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Morosstudio Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA C.F.M. Gallery, New York, NY

1995 Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA C.F.M. Gallery, New York, NY Morosstudio Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1996 Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI Igitian Modern Art Gallery, Las Vegas, NV Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Ashkenazy Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1997 Herbert Palmer Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI L.A. Central Library, Los Angeles, CA Ashkenazy Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Igitian Modern Art Gallery, Las Vegas, NV

1998 Downey Museum of Art, Downey Herbert Palmer Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Art Territory, Los Angeles, CA Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA

1999 Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Herbert Palmer Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI Downey Museum of Art, Downey Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA Fletcher Gallery, Woodstock, NY Art Territory, Los Angeles, CA Galerie 224, Laguna Beach, CA

2000 Levernissage Gallery, Carmel, CA Galerie 224, Laguna Beach, CA Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Herbert Palmer Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Fletcher Gallery, Woodstock, NY Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI Central Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA Art Territory, Los Angeles, CA Gallery Vinizki, Munic, Germany

2001 Denise Roberge Gallery, Palm Desert, CA Svit Ozor Fine Arts, Santa Barbara, CA Galerie 224, Laguna Beach, CA Levernissage Gallery, Carmel, CA Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Fletcher Gallery, Woodstock, NY Gallery Vinizki, Munic, Germany Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI Art Santa Fe 2001, Santa Fe, NM Brand Library and Art Gallery, Glendale, CA L.A. International Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA

2002 Michael Levy Gallery, Long Beach James Yaroush Gallery, New Jersey Art Territory, Los Angeles, CA Denise Roberge Gallery, Palm Desert, CA Levernisage Gallery, Carmel, CA Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Stephanies Art Gallery, La Canada, CA Gallery Vinizki, Munic, Germany Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI

2003 Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, CA Michael Levy Gallery, Long Beach James Yaroush Gallery, New Jersey Arame Art Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia Art Territory, Los Angeles, CA Tina Zapoli Gallery, Porto Allegre, Brazil Gallery Vinizki, Munic, Germany Roslin Art Gallery, Glendale, CA Stephanies Art Gallery, La Canada, CA Belian Art Center, Detroit, MI Museum of National Architecture & Urban Life, Gyumri, Armenia Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan, Armenia Florence Biennale, Florence, Italy

Emil Kazaz Эмиль Казар

Armenian born artist Emil Kazaz creates mythologically grounded figures within a realm of half-light. His themes are a blend of sensual mysticism and provocative introspection --beauty, love and valor prevail. Kazaz's characters are original, acutely observed, and marvelously refreshing --especially considering how well worn this territory is. Although often obscured by the appearance of conformity to western classical figurative tradition, his sophisticated and culturally diverse aesthetic psychology produces a living rather than mummified iconography, not from frozen in time but archetype dancing to our collective internal rhythms. Once you recognize his anti-formal dances, the classicism becomes transparent.

Kazaz straddles the creative philosophies of two world cultures, East and West, bodies in constant flux. He twists conventions together. Iridescent Arabic manuscript illuminations romp with Western compositional restraints -- emotion and color confronting line and form. These myth shrouded figures push us around, disturb our choices and decisions, without slick faddism. They attach themselves to something deep within each of us, and, like cartographers, provide maps for our humanity Early on, Kazaz abandoned the stiff realist paradise of his academic Soviet-styled Art School training, as well as the West's formalized penchant for abstraction and conceptualism. He sees both systems as obsolete and not helpful to the human catharsis within society. He also disclaims any connections to the self-centered political appropriateness advocated by much of today's criticism. To paraphrase the poet John Dryden, Art is the "image of nature". All theories of Art have made some allowance for both terms: image, a thing in itself, a construct; and nature, what the Art addresses or imitates. Kazaz imitates nothing and creates everything, leaving nothing to chance. In his work, nature is more ontological than semantic. He moves people from the center of the contemporary universe and reconnects them to metaphysics of our collective past. Pushing the viewer into a thoroughly personal macrocosm, Kazaz does not subordinate his mythic and "supernatural" beings to anything. Not the fuming of a malevolent Old Testament God or the godhaunted demiurge of Greek thought. His characters and situations exist in their present, always trying to meddle with their destiny, and like the adventurers of Homer, moving through unreal worlds of appearances where nothing is what it seems. Kazaz's approach to Art brings us to the fringe of human nature. Masked by rich color, pattern and texture, attached to brilliant forms, Kazaz's attention to detail is never for its own sake. They are links that connect us to his reconstruced nature, philosophical fragments burning with supernatural potency, that set boundaries and make rules. Kazaz's powers of imitation and aesthetic judgment fool us into thinking we know his terrain. However, upon closer inspection, we find ourselves questioning our very nature while tightly holding on to what we believe, and accepting flux as stability. There are countless gods, heroes, and demons in our world. You can find them everywhere. They are in Art, literature, and religion. Kazaz's vigilance catches these ethereal beings overseeing the normal routine of everyday people. Emil Kazaz has been living in Los Angeles, California, since the 80's, where he has been developing very successful international career. Adapted from "Emil Kazaz" and "Nature and the Art of Emil Kazaz" by Joe Lewis.

Biography:

BIRTHPLACE Gyumri, Armenia -- 1953