Raffi Kalenderian Paint Work
13 Sep—2 Nov 2013

Raffi Kalenderian Paint Work

13 Sep—2 Nov 2013
Buchmann Galerie
Press release

The Buchmann Gallery is delighted to announce its first solo show of works by Raffi Kalenderian (*1981, lives in Los Angeles); Kalenderian’s works were first featured by the gallery in the exhibition Crystal World in 2010.  

 

Raffi Kalenderian’s pictures show people from his circle of friends whom he portrays in relaxed, everyday poses. The specific situation during the portrait sitting plays an important role in the creative process and it helps to capture the flowing boundary between the physical and the mental world of the person portrayed.  

 

Kalenderian emphasises the interior world of the person he paints through the elements he adds to the figure. Wildly flourishing plants can be seen as a metaphor for a spirited, irrepressible personality, and abstract or surreal elements underscore the predominant mood of the picture.   

 

Often he shows the model in several poses in a single painting. With this compositional approach he succeeds in capturing multiple emotional states in one picture, and at the same time portrays a sequence of events. The motif of the doppelganger indicates the various facets of the sitter’s personality. 

 

For Raffi Kalenderian, every detail in the figure’s surroundings is as important as the figure itself. He engages closely with the painterly execution of the patterns on clothes, the folds of a curtain, the fringe on a carpet or the coverlet on a bed. The new paintings have a strongly accentuated and characteristic style. The equal significance of the model and the surroundings, combined with an unusual spatial perspective, give Raffi Kalenderian’s paintings and drawings their high degree of originality.   

 

Many of the pictures that were painted in his studio include unfinished paintings – a moment of self-reflection. The painting, which in the eye of the beholder is finished, references other paintings that will follow or which have been discarded: the process of artistic creation is an open system.  

   

Please contact the gallery should you requartist or require images of the works.  

Raffi Kalenderian

Born 1981 in Los Angeles. Lives and works in Los Angeles.

Education
2004

BFA Painting, University of California, Los Angeles

2004 Residency, Idyllwild Arts Academy, Idyllwild
2007 Residency, Medium, St. Bartélemy, French West Indies

Solo Exhibitions

2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2013
2012
2011
2010
2008
2007
2006

Group Exhibitions

2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2011
2010
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002