Docent Researcher_________Marcy Katz Artist: Charles Garabedian Dates of birth : 1923 Place of birth: Detroit, Mi of Armenian Heritage Current residence: Santa Monica Education: MA University of California, LA 1961 Major Shows/Galleries: most recent show was at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art from Jan 22- May 1, 2011 representing his entire career of 50 years. His sculpture work was in the Whitney Biennial Employment: 60’s to 90’s he taught at UCLA, CalState University at Northridge, the Cal Institute fo the Arts, the College of Creative Studies and Cooper Union among others. Other: His mom died when he was two. His father became crippled and was left to raise 3 young children, so Charles grew up in an orphanage until age 9. He then moved to California with his father, an uncle and his sisters in the midst of the depression. They bought a chicken ranch in San Gabriel which failed. A full bio can be found here: http://www.lalouver.com/resource/garabedian_bio/ Garabedian_bio.pdf http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-charles-garabedian- 12734 Media/Techniques Media: painting and drawing and later sculpture Techniques Employed Contextual information Influences (historical/personal/political) his Armenian roots, the depression years, his tour of duty in North Africa during WW2. Also influenced by other artists like Ed Carrillo, and especially Ed Moses Expressive Qualities (realistic, naturalistic, etc.): http://www.santabarbaraca.com/blog/index.cfm/2011/1/Quote: “His persistently individual exploration of figure, landscape and subject matter paved the way for new generations of artists who demonstrated a renewed focus on imaginative representations of the figure.” He uses mythology as a reference and a guide for modern and contemporary man. His use of the Iliad is one example Subject Matter/ Themes/ Concept dealt with in the work: consistently narrative using figure and landscape despite trends towards abstract over a 50 year career. From LA Times, Jan 26,1990 by Cathy Curtis… “Rummaging around in the rich trove of Charles Garabedian's recent paintings, a viewer finds dollar signs, antique Greek torsos, square Aztec bodies, Pacific Northwest masks, arrowheads, artichokes and clenched fists. A rhythmic pulse of images invented, repeated and discarded fuel the larger, more intricate works. Rows of identical uptilted women's heads part like waves in an enchanted sea. Clumsy figures the artist calls "mutants" lurch into wild "e" positions in a calmly classical landscape. A Greek amphitheater looks oddly like a spaceship.”” Sure, sometimes the artist goes over the deep end and works so nakedly the stuff begins to look corny. In "Man Tearing His Heart Out," a Pygmy-like fellow reaches into his chest to remove the offending organ. A nearby Lorelei seems to be the source of the poor guy's anguish. The subject for this painting was recurring in his work. He did it in different media. Other Comments/ Information about work or life Anecdotal Information and Quotes He was of the period of Art in the 60’s in Los Angeles . At 38 he was the oldest of a group show, “Six Painters of the Rear Guard” at the Ceeje Gallery in 1962 just after graduating from UCLA. Quote from an interview by Anne Ayres, Aug 21-22, 2003:http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/ interviews/oral-history-interview-charles-garabedian-12734 “Yes, well, I’ve described my efforts in a funny way as the idea of trying self-consciously to work with the hope of uncovering the unconscious, which is you might call a form of self- analysis, or accidental self-analysis or a stream of consciousness. I painted with a stream of consciousness looking for the unconscious, and of course, it shows up in the work where at some point you hope that your work will mean something. At times you’ll say, “Who cares? I don’t care; I just like to work, that’s all.” And that may be true, but there’s also the thing that secretly you say, “I’d like to think that I have done something. And you say, “Well, the thing that I want done is an uncovering of my soul.” References: Books/Magazines/web links to articles highlight which articles may be worth making a hard copy for the binder and give complete information on references so that they can be found in the future http://www.santabarbaraca.com/blog/index.cfm/2011/1/ http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-charles-garabedian-12734 |