Born in Armenia, 1981
Artist Statement:
"I was born in an artistic family and grew up dreaming only about art and creating my own art world. I was always drawing, experiencing, exploring. Today, I work with various recycled materials, old or vintage clothes, and textiles. I would not label or name any particular style for my artworks as I paint without thinking about style. My motivation is nature, people and kind relationships. You work for your joy and I think that is the key of the happiness. You can discuss and argue about art forever. To me, everything is abstract and interchangeable. It’s all about how you look at things. I love light, life, shadow, line, and color, where the world of the artist begins, trying to sink into art, being drawn into emotion. It helps me to understand the tragedy and the happiness of life itself. I consider myself the luckiest of all to have been given the gift of creation, and I live and work through the appreciation of the divinity of art.”
Biography:
Minas Halaj graduated from University of Fine Arts, Yerevan, Armenia in 2002 and moved to the United States of America in the same year. He studied at the Art Institute of San Francisco in 2004 and now resides in Los Angeles. Incorporating elements of classical education with contemporary influences, Minas’ art manifests itself by way of a symphony of graphics, collages and figurative compositions. He uses a variety of recycled materials as part of the background and pieces of a vintage textiles to add texture and dimension, making his work deeply complex.
Minas' work has been collected by a number of museums around the world including the Mark Rothko Art Centre Daugavpils, Latvia and Mākslas Museums, Latvia, Bakersfield Museum Of Art. His beautifully intricate art has been featured in nearly 50 contemporary art exhibits around the world, with many pieces joining high-profile international collections such as Morgan Stanley Headquarters New York, NY, Sony Music Headquarters Beverly Hills, California, PepsiCo Company Collection, Dubai, UAE, and Princess Anita Of Hohenberg Collection Vienna, Austria.
The Floral Minds collection is vibrant and reminiscent of the old masters. Of this ongoing body of work Minas has said: "The concept of beauty is a burdened one. We are living in a society that fears its adoration in contemporary art, yet intimidates its women into accepting it as their highest value. We have degraded it in mass media and celebrity, yet revere it above all other qualities of life. Beauty is a double edged sword, an instrument of seduction and an overwhelming distrust in the simple sensation of pleasure.”
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