Reality in Change

Reality is one of the most questionable concepts. It consists of facts and reflections, attitudes, and ideas. The reality, which is about to change, or has just changed, is even more questionable. So how do we approach it?

Revolution (from the Latin word revolutio meaning ‘turn around’) is an act of changing a reality and is always paired with either violent or non-violent forms of erasing the old narratives and bringing in the new ones.

Revolutions whether in progress or as existing historical facts, always attract attention and become a topic of discussion.

But how do we approach these or capture them? How do we archive or document these through the lens of art?

And how do we talk about them, especially when they are still in the process of bringing about the changes they aimed for, and the results are not yet digested?


The five artists representing Armenia have witnessed the process of change known as the ‘Armenian Velvet Revolution’ and are sharing their personal experiences on the wavering reality that became part of the experience of the whole country, which is still in the process of changing.

2018. Velvet Revolution by Mirzoyan is a series of black and white analogue photos representing the events labelled the ‘Armenian Velvet Revolution’ by the media.
They play with the idea of documental objectiveness and convey an artistic approach that shows reality as an adjustable event.
The work is highly inspired by documentary representations of 1968’s Prague Spring and the May 68 events in Paris.



Click on the images to view enlargements from 2018. Velvet Revolution series

Mirzoyan – an independent photographer whose lenses have captured numerous conflicts, from ongoing political and social problems around the world to the inner dialogues an individual may have. He is one of a small number of Armenian photographers and has developed an international career winning three major awards from the Magnum Foundation: the ‘Emergency’ grant, the Magnum Caucasus Award, and a full scholarship for the New York University/Magnum Foundation Photography and Human Rights Program.

Political posters are a series of visually catchy and rudely textured expressive works, which are a distant reflection on the events they document.
These works mix the freedom of street art gestures with the intentionally untidy approach of a perfectionist.



Click on the images to view enlargements from the Political Posters series

Gayane Yerkanyan – a graphic designer and typographic artist based in Amsterdam. She graduated from Yerevan’s Academy of the Arts and continued her studies at the Utrecht School of the Arts, where she gained a Master’s Degree.
Her poster works revolve around Armenian letters and phrases, playing with their visual representation and adding new meanings to them.

Revolutionary carpet triptych is three sections of canvas artworks, where comic book approaches towards narrative are mixed with the ornamentalism of Armenian carpets. The comic book visual storytelling, combined with the daring imagery of street art, shows the event in its process, without depriving it of its impulse and layers.



Click on the images to view enlargements from the Revolutionary carpet triptych series

Davit Kochunts – contemporary Armenian painter born in 1988 and a graduate of Terlemezyan College. In 2019 he won the Presidential Award for Best Artworks of the Year for his paintings.

Superhero series of canvas paintings are done with a hyper-realistic devotion to detail and an ironic gaze at Armenia’s socio-political events. Here, the western comic book style political heroes are represented in an environment inspired by iconic landscapes of Armenia created by prominent Armenian painter Martiros Saryan.


Click on the images to view enlargements from the Superhero series

Sedrak Velikodny – a Yerevan-based contemporary painter, started his career as a stage designer. His first work as a student was Khatabalada, a tragicomedy that later became a cult classic. He holds several awards for his works and scenography, including the Anahit national film awards and Artavazd theatrical awards. His latest painting project is a witty reflection of the life of contemporary Armenia with all its issues and its gaps between the past and present.

The Great Armenian Beauty is a series of artworks in which the idea of change is shown through images of women covered with the national flag.

Here, the artist refers to a female body as the ultimate symbol of change and transformation with the flag-covered faces representing a new, yet unknown future arriving after those changes.


Click on the images to view enlargements from The Great Armenian Beauty series

Samvel Saghatelyan – a Yerevan-based multidisciplinary artist who started his journey in the art world in 1988, at the brink of the collapse of the USSR and Armenia’s independence. His topics revolve around the standards that people face both as individuals and as socially constructed citizens – and the clashes between the two; while his work balances the urge to sharpen the colours of reality – revealing the grotesque – with his sentimental need to blur the negativity within it.

This exhibition contains images relating to the experience of a peaceful revolution. The Yerevan Biennial Art Foundation and Google Art & Culture do not take any side on the matter and do not endorse any political party involved in the events documented or represented by the exhibition.