Exhibition at Meem Gallery (Nov 18 – Jan 10, 2020) Renowned Egyptian Sculptor Armen Agop Reveals Paintings For The First Time

Meem Gallery is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in the UAE with a celebrated Egyptian sculptor, Armen Agop. The artist, based in Italy since 2000, is well known internationally for the black granite sculptures that he exhibited with regularity through Europe, the Arab World, and Asia. In this upcoming exhibition, audiences will be able to view his drawings and paintings for the first time, alongside his sculptural works.

Armen Agop, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm / Courtesy of Meem Gallery and the artist

Armen Agop, Untitled, 2019, acrylic ink on canvas, 150 x 120 cm / Courtesy of Meem Gallery and the artist

The title of this multidisciplinary exhibition, Mantra, truly reflects the nature of the work within this series, as physical documentation of meditative, spiritual practice. Each artwork is undertaken with a focus, a mantra, set by the artist, seeking to create through repeated action. Choosing one of the smallest elements, the point, and applying it over and over, the artist seeks to discover its limitless potential and to reach profound experiences. The sculpting of granite is a grueling and lengthy task. The manifold, repetitive movements become an almost meditative process. Through the carving and perpetual shaping of the material, this ruminative practice is undertaken, while the drawings and paintings deliver a divergence in concept. In the works on paper and canvas, it is the meditative process itself that unveils the composition. The paintings become a “result of the duration of time and rituality”.

The exhibition will open on November 18 at the gallery and will extend to Abu Dhabi Art with a solo presentation at the art fair, opening November 21. The exhibition and smaller fair presentation will both include works on paper, paintings, and sculptures, each grouping of works acting as a complement to the other.

Armen Agop, Untitled 127, 2012, black granite, 111.5 cm in diameter / Courtesy of Meem Gallery and the artist

Armen Agop, Untitled 145, 2019, black granite, 60 cm in diameter / Courtesy of Meem Gallery and the artist

Armen Agop, Untitled 129, 2013, black granite, 70 x 70 x 19 cm / Courtesy of Meem Gallery and the artist

Armen Agop (Armenian-Egyptian, b. 1969) is known predominantly for his black granite sculptures. In much of his work, a single point is the focus of the form and the emerging contact with the external world. This is a concept that the artist returns to again and again. For this exhibition, he denounces any skill in painting or drawing to adopt a gestural mantra in following the instinctive desire of doing without a message. Using the smallest possible pen tip, 0.1, and believing in the strength of a single point, he repeats it endlessly with a ritual, sober gesture. The notions of time, labor, and ritual are rethought, in a pure act of processing time. Therefore, the paintings are the materialization of the duration of time. By experiencing endlessness, the mantra becomes a matter.

Agop’s works are marked by his idea of a complete synergy of mind, body, and spirit. He works with basic, elemental entities such as a line or a point and observes them relentlessly until he sees a new way of being. He describes this obsessive process as a meditative practice, a ritual that seeks an internal cosmos. Agop’s sculptures appear futuristic, and at the same time, remind us of ancient Egyptian art in its powerful lines and simple forms. Each contains these diverse aspects of the broad time horizon as Agop introduces us to the internal juxtaposition that is palpable in each work.