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April 2, 2010
Elemental exploration
Artists come together for a show at Zack Gallery.
OLGA LIVSHIN
The group exhibition Exploring the Elements, which opened at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery last week, presents three very different artists: Amit Cohen, Aurel Stan and Miran Elbakyan. All three, however, discovered their talents in adulthood.
Cohen’s first foray into the arts happened at 22. After serving in the Israeli army, Cohen, an accomplished surfer, traveled to New Zealand for new surfing vistas. One day, he saw Dana Rose’s paintings in a local gallery. That day changed his life. Smitten by the artist’s talent, he started taking lessons with her – his first plunge into artistic waves. He continued his studies in Israel until he left for North America, moving to Vancouver last year.
During his travels, Cohen has never stopped painting. “I have to paint. If I don’t, I get headaches,” he explained with a smile. Nature, especially water, inspires much of his work. “Surfing and painting are alike. When I surf, every wave is different. The ocean constantly changes color. The sun reflects off the water.... There is so much blue, and it’s all different.”
Infused with color, Cohen’s art resonates with his exuberant optimism. Music flows like rivulets through his pictures, as he explores all aspects of his chosen element – water. “I always listen to classical music when I paint,” he confessed. In the blinding indigo of the sea, his “Swimmers” perform their diving acrobatics to the joyful and mysterious melody of the deep.
While Cohen explores the nuances of water in his art, Stan has chosen another element – air – for his muse. A professional volleyball player for years, Stan knows air intimately. At 24, he moved to Israel from his native Romania and continued playing professional sport and coaching. “I traveled with my team all over the world,” he recalled. “While my teammates went shopping in their free time, I went to museums.”
In 1997, during his first visit to Vancouver, he met many of his future friends at the Jewish Community Centre and played soccer with a man who owned a glass shop who one day invited Stan for a visit. Captivated by the play of light on the glass planes and by the interactions of colors, Stan decided to use discarded pieces of glass to create his first sculpture – a menorah.
To his amazement, his first piece was an artistic and financial success – he sold it. He stayed in Canada for a few months and, during that time, made several more pieces of Judaica, some of which he donated to Vancouver Talmud Torah and the Louis Brier Home and Hospital. After returning to Israel, he continued experimenting with glass and added other materials, like stone and wood, to his experiments. At some point, in order to visualize his next glass sculpture, he drew it on a piece of paper – his first sketch.
By the time Stan settled in Canada in 2001, he was a fountain of creativity. Even when his children were born and he didn’t have time to paint, he jotted down notes for new pictures and sculptures. “I can’t stop now,” he said. “Even if I don’t make anything with my hands, the ideas wouldn’t stop coming.”
Light, air, shadows and reflections dominate his paintings. Enchanted by the oscillating colors of falling water, he painted “Waterfall.” Beside it, a vibrant painting, “Glass,” embodies an uplifting story. For three years, it hung in the artist’s home. He often photographed his twin daughters and his son with this painting as a background.
Unlike his show-mates Stan and Cohen, Elbakyan attended art lessons as a child in his native Erevan, Armenia, although he didn’t plan to become an artist. After emigrating to Israel and serving in the army, he found a job as an assistant to one of the top blacksmith-artisans in Israel, Andrey Kumanin.
“I took to metalworking instantly,” Elbakyan recalled. Intrigued by the expressive elasticity of metal, he entered the craft with enthusiasm. Three years later, he opened his own forge and studio.
By the time he moved to Surrey in 2006, he was an established blacksmith and sculptor. Most of his work represents home and garden decor: fences and candleholders, stairway railings and gazebos. For several years, he has been an active participant in local home and interior design shows. His every piece, be it a lamp or a mirror, brings art and beauty into his clients’ houses. “I like stairway railings best,” he said. “Every railing is like a jeweled necklace of a house.”
His sculptures in the show are imbued with humor. Elongated and teasing like a mock British detective, “Horse” promenades in the middle of the gallery with a pipe. Wind blows into the face of a little figure in “Speed,” while an abstract composition strives to be airborn, graceful, but rooted like a young Crimean cypress – as Elbakyan’s art as a whole is rooted to earth.
Exploring the Elements is showing until Sunday, April 11.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She’s available for contract work. Contact her at [email protected].
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