The First Solo Exhibition in Spain ‘Transfer, Transport, Transit’ by Chant Avedissian

The first solo exhibition in Spain by Chant Avedissian (1951, Egypt) is on view at the Sabrina Amrani Gallery and runs through May 27, 2017.

Chant Avedissian, 'Transfer, Transport, Transit', installation view / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

For Avedissian, 'Transfer' is the artistâ€™s way to connect with the cultural expressions of his roots to bring them into the present. Along with a restless quest to understand his own identity, confused by his Armenian name and origin, Egyptian birth and nationality, his studies in Canada and France, Avedissian feels that the Era of former president Nasser stole part of the cultural and artistic identity of Egypt in favour of the countryâ€™s Westernisation. For this search, the artist reinterprets patterns and icons of art and craftsmanship created more than 3.500 years ago. Due to his close professional relationship with the renowned Arab architect Hassan Fathy, he was inspired to develop this interest in traditional art and local materials: The traces and tools that the artist uses to understand and approach his own primary identity as a transversal human being. Fathy is also the man who taught Avedissian to be free. Thanks to this he has managed to maintain his place in the art world without the need of being represented by an art gallery. We are speaking of one of the few artists who managed to break the walls of the usual commercial circuits and became world-renowned with works such as Cairo Stencils or Icons of the Nile.

L-R. Chant Avedissian / Ancient Egyptian pattern, red triangles on white (B11), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x18 cm / Ancient Egyptian triangles with plants (P5), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper. 180x90 cm / Persian tiles with plants (P6), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper,180x90 cm / Ancient Egyptian pattern, dark grey triangles on white (B12), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x18 cm / Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani

L-R. Chant Avedissian / 3 red circles on blue background, 4 Bukhara floral patterns (B5), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x18 cm / Bukhara floral pattern, Ottoman tiger-stripe and cintamani, 3 circles (P1), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x90 cm / Ottoman textile leaves, ancient Egyptian stars, 3 circles (P2), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x90 cm / 3 red circles on blue background, 5 Bukhara floral patterns (B6), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper,180x18 cm / Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani

L-R. Chant Avedissian / Bedouin kilim pattern with 1 red triangle at the bottom (B8), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x18 cm / Marble design with central blue triangles on red background (P3), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x90 cm / Marble design with central yellow square under blue triangles on grey background (P4), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x90 cm / Bedouin kilim pattern with 2 orange triangles at the bottom (B7), 2016, Hand painted gouache on corrugated paper, 180x18 cm / Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani

The concept of 'Transport' implies movement across the borders of lands, kingdoms and countries. It is no longer just the ability to bring the ancient world to the present, but the possibility of shortening distances and adopting forms of arts and crafts from different corners of the planet and projecting them in his pieces. Unlike the process of prevailing globalization, Avedissian tries to rescue cultural manifestations that occurred thousands of kilometers from his homeland and return them to life through his photography and stencils. To do so, the artist has dedicated a good part of his life to travel and photograph crafts, art and architecture. For Avedissian, there is a whole world, a history and origins that barely remain as stones, accumulating dust under the almighty mantle of the now globalizing and former colonialist world of Western culture. In this sense, the notion of Transport is also an important economic element, which exposes capitalism as a clear global reference, able to bury the millennial identity of all these cultural manifestations.

Chant Avedissian, 'Transfer, Transport, Transit', installation view / Courtesy of Sabrina Amrani Gallery

Finally, 'Transit' reminds us of the everlasting, the ephemeral, the transitory state in which we all find ourselves, and the constant re-appropriation of the individual. No one or anything is here for all eternity. And yet, we can move, transport and claim everything from the past and bring it to our time, just as we can recover principles, thoughts, concepts, and artistic and cultural manifestations that help identify us. The individual is constantly recuperating values, cultures, conceptsâ€¦ Avedissian creates a bond with the movement of different times and geographies and brings them to life, this way capturing the roots of the human kind in his famous stencils.