Armen Eloyan
Two feet in one shoe
1 June-20 July, 2007
Preview 31 May, 6 8pm
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is pleased to present Two feet in one shoe: Armen Eloyan, the first solo exhibition of Eloyans paintings in a UK institution.
Armen Eloyans paintings adeptly play out an apocalyptic fantasy world of anxiety, brutality, sexuality and the grotesque with the contradictory light-heartedness of a cartoon. His theatrical scenes explore the fragility of life as well as the boundaries separating security from chaos, comedy from violence and pleasure from cruelty.
Crucially Eloyans strikingly gestural paintings use both humour and horror in a manner that engages him emotionally, mentally and physically. The brash, attractive, dark colours Eloyan employs collide and coexist whilst unsettling any sense of harmony in the work.
The instinctive approach Eloyan applies to his painting draws on his emotional bond to an array of collective and personal experiences. Significantly these are rooted in his early years in Yerevan, Armenia yet also claim reference to propaganda, art history, cinema, television and popular music. Clearly there is a narrative element in Eloyans work however this is disturbingly disrupted by a sense of desolation and anxiety.
Two feet in one shoe is an exhibition imbued with Eloyans verve, vigor and desire to celebrate the act of painting. His intuitive relationship to painting is infused with a need to delve beneath the layers of pure aesthetic and get to the crux with what is messy, foul and discordant.
Two feet in one shoe: Armen Eloyan is accompanied by a full-colour catalogue with essays by Ziba de Weck Ardalan and Philippe Pirotte.
Born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1966 Armen Eloyan now lives and works in Amsterdam and Zurich.
Earlier this year, Eloyan had a solo exhibition in the Project Room at Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (FR). During 2006, he had a one person exhibition at Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich (CH) and took part in a group show at Kunsthalle Bern (CH). In 2005, Eloyan participated in various exhibitions at l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato (I) and at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (NL).
Opening hours: TuesSat, 10 am6 pm. Sun 125 pm
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is a non-profit space devoted to promoting contemporary art for the benefit of the public. Parasol unit is a privately funded charity with possible and future additional funding from the public and private sectors. The core activity of Parasol unit is to showcase the work of contemporary artists from around the world. Each year, the foundation mounts three or four exhibitions in various media, such as sculpture, painting, installation, video, or photography, for which some works might be specifically commissioned. Each exhibition is usually accompanied by a publication. Parasol unit does not charge admission fee.
For more information or images please contact cliodhna@parasol-unit.org or Cliodhna Murphy at 44 (0)20 7490 7373
