NINA KHEMCHYAN ECHO OF VENICE 20 June –15 August 2024 Galerie de Buci 73 rue de Seine Paris 06
The Galerie de Buci, as usual, opens the summer with a new exhibition by NINA KHEMCHYAN, an artist who has been represented by the gallery and faithful to it for over 25 years. Her works, presented in Paris, are inspired by the lights of Venice, its pomp and decadent beauty, but also recall the multi-media, multi-dimensional installation Echo with which the artist represented her country in the Armenian Pavilion at the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale.
Since April 20th, Nina's Echo at the Serenissima presents two major installations, linked and complementing each other: "Echo" and "Seven Deadly Sins". The central element of her installation in Venice comprises eleven blue ceramic spheres, adorned with gold inlays, representing a selection of Armenian sharakans, eleven songs of repentance written in the 5th century by Mesrop Mashtots, considered the spiritual father of the Armenian nation. The installation is completed by an a capella performance of the hymns: an artistic fusion of sculpture and music, blending the tangible and the auditory. The experience continues with Nina Khemchyan's "Seven Deadly Sins" installation: a 50-metres one-piece paper roll artwork, divided into seven distinct parts, each representing one of the sins. The two works reinforce and intensify each other, interweaving themes of human sin with the quest for spiritual repentance and redemption, so essential and vital, especially today. The idea is crowned by a delicate final element: a golden sphere symbolizing human perfection, which can however become a new point of departure, as is the case with the Paris exhibition.
Drawing on the impressions of her Venetian sojourn, Nina Khemchyan has created a collection full of light, like the reflections of Murano chandeliers in the mirrors of Grand Canal palaces. In tones of sky, azure and navy blue, with gold and ochre touches, these sculptures make us dream of faraway journeys. The artist invites us to meditate at the water's edge, to relive our love affairs and take us back to our fondest memories.
Like Mother Earth, Nina's spheres are inexhaustible sources of all riches: a long-sought peace, a quietude, a joy in living, a questioning of the meaning of life, but also the beauty of people, the culture of our ancestors. These are the emotions the artist seeks to convey to us, the light she shares with us.
For over 30 years, Nina Khemchyan has been shaping spheres of grog clay, on which, by incising the raw surface, she engraves universes that are all her own, but which bring together her native Armenian culture, the inspirations of the moment, such as the Venetian lights, but also timeless subjects such as love, beauty, and truth. The artsit explains: "Before conceiving a work of art, I need to touch the earth, to feel its moist under my fingers, to breathe in its scent. This contact imbues me with our mother earth Gaia and brings my inspiration to life every time."
A dozen black ink drawings complete the exhibition, highlighting Nina Khemchyan's talent for seeing the essence of characters in just a few strokes, her ability to render their emotions and moods with only a few gestures. The whole is a harmonious and beautiful whole.
A Nina Khemchyan exhibition is always a discovery for the viewer, but also a source of amazement and inspiration.
For more information: Pavel Morozov pm@buci.gallery +33677806853
Galerie de Buci is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am till 7 pm www.buci.gallery
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