Artour Oshakantsi
Artours work is at once magnanimous. Now I am not sure exactly what that word means, but lets break it down because words are easier to understand than pictures, Mag-nan-imous.
The thesaurus definition is: Generous, High Minded, Fair, Noble, Big, Worthy, Upright...
So Magnanimous means generous, generous of spirit in a big way and Artour is certainly that. When I write I am aware that I reveal not just something of myself, but that I am literally dripping off the page. So to is Artour.... Dripping off the canvas...
His canvases are as Big, as colourful and as generous as is his heart, his mind, his psyche.
As a young man he was famed for large-scale paintings that expressed his rage against the Soviet occupation of Armenia. I have not seen these works of art but have heard about them from Artour.
He took great personal risk, imprisonment in a Siberian salt mine could easily have been his fate; an early death could have been his fate, yet this brave young man spoke out. And he spoke out in a big way with canvases that were metres high.
He expressed his anger and indignation in a way that was fearless and nothing short of naive, but perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps he was only too aware that death or imprisonment were at close quarters...
Looking at Artours work today what does the artist say to us? What is it that he expresses? Is it still rage, is it environmentalism or is it just simply a reflection of the beauty in nature, in his new found freedom.
Certainly he has always had a degree of freedom of expression, as nothing could inhibit this mans palette knife and brush.
They say that Art is an expression and a reflection of the state of consciousness of the artist. So where then is Artours mind and psyche now? In a place of great and tranquil beauty I would say, And deservedly so.
The long night of the soul is clearly a journey this wised man has taken and today his artwork reflects back to us the light at the end of his tunnel.
Again his canvases are huge, his use of colour, imagery, butterflies, flowers and abstract bees lets say, impart to me a metamorphose not just of the soul, but of the heart. For here is a man who knows he has made a difference. Here is a man who, if he were to leave the world tomorrow, knows he leaves it a better place for his having been here.
But that's not all, Artour is not just content with having drawn our attention to the horrors in the world and at his personal transformation, no,no, Artour is hell bent on helping others on their journey.
Through his work reaches first and foremost into the corporate world, to the men in suits, For that is where modern day capitalistic battles are fought.
He wants to help them by bringing a lightness of being and a wonder of nature into their day. His huge canvases brighten up grey corporate corridors of power. Most of all though, he wants to reach a wider audience, the man or woman in the street who are experiencing their own inner turmoil.
Artour, through his Art, knows how to settle the mind. He knows how to heal hearts that are hurting, and he does this by reaching out to ordinary people.
He gives freely of his time, I met him on an art course where I showed him some of my art work and poetry, he asked me to write a poem about his work. I found it very challenging and this critique is what came out as I sat to put pen to paper... A poem followed.