KAMSAR- THE ARTIST OF ALL THE COLORS AND EMOTIONS

There is an artist, that is a master of two or three colors, more precisely just those two or three colors are theirs, but there are also those that are the artists of all colors. Kamsar is one of them. He can turn his emotions into colors and shift all of them onto a canvas. With his brush Kamsar gives life to our old ancestors living in the millennial petroglyphs and talks with us through them. They see often Miro’s influence in his painting.

 But in reality the origin of  Kamsar’s works of art is the art of petroglyphs. The artist has studied their  significance and symbols for many years and then introduced them to his art. And why no-one has ever thought that he was inspired by the petroglyph art- the artist asks.

My first relation with Kamsar’s art was  in 1994 via the picture “The Land and the Sky”. That is the meditation of the artist, his special dedication of life and his appeal for living in harmony.  Human being is  the procreation of heaven and earth, and he must never lose his balance. It must be maintained with optimism. The colors of the picture are just like this.

Kamsar was born on April 16, 1961, in city Yeghegnadzor. The painter’s creative way has started from the painting school of his home town. In 1971-1976 his teacher was Van Eghyan who was one of the wonderful painters of 60’s. He played great role in the formation of the little artist's aesthetic taste and the love towards the abstract painting perhaps is transferred from him. Then Kamsar continued his studies in Yerevan, in the College of Fine Arts after Panos Terlemezyan. Here the young artist showed his exclusive talent from the very beginning of his study. This was approved by his “Spring” canvas, in 1977, the color-linear structure and mastery of which cause admiration, and no one will think that the author was 16-year-old teenager. After graduating from the Art school Kamo served in the Soviet Army. Then Kamo returned to his native city Yeghegnadzor and continued here his creative years.

 The crucial and decisive years were waiting for him- the earthquake in 88’s, the Artsakh movement and blockade, and finally the years of obtaining independence. Together with his teacher of painting Van Yeghyan who had already become his senior friend, he became one of the soldiers of the Karabakh movement. Naturally all the processes had their immediate impact on the art of the delicate painter and during those years Kamsar painter was finally formed.

During those dark and cold years the paint dried very quickly in the studio, and the artist painted faster with his frozen fingers. The colors warmed him and the dreams became reality on the canvas with lightning speed.     

 I look at the picture “ Hijacking”. It seems to me that Kamsar kidnapped his beloved one from the real life, brought her onto his canvas to reside there. And she lives in the canvas, in his dark red, full of love, in his studio and next to him. Suddenly my eye catches his picture “Flash”; orange tension in the dark blue.  I smile. I see myself in the picture. I see the picture “ Family” made in 1992 which is perfect with its compositional structure and color solutions. Ggreen stillness is flowing from the picture. From this moment this picture becomes one of my most favorite picture of Kamsar’s works. From the first glance it seems that the artist's drawings are pure personal statements – colored reproduction of his own emotions and feelings, but studying the chronology and titles of paintings one can discover many social phenomena in the artist’s canvases. For example, “Struggle for Existence” picture created in 1992-the title of the picture, then the dark colors of the work take us back to almost 20 years, and you see the neighborhoods submerged in darkness, endless bread queues and widespread deforestation. The work “Earthquake” painted in 1994 speaks about the deep pain, tells the story about his compatriots who are still homeless, who live in their tiny houses. Kamsar’s pain has blue color…The artist's works of 1999-2000 create completely different mood and emotions, the titles of works remind us about it. Kamsar’s work “Delight” is very sensitive and emotional, and the “White Spring Of My Memory”  is the expression of optimistic and high mood. Only the best is preserved in his memory ....

Kamsar has a few works. It involves one and a half  decades of creative activity and perhaps the artist spent the same time without creating any works. He hasn’t created, but instead Kamsar conceded Kamo Sahakian, who is the director of the Geological Museum of Yeghegnadzor and he dedicated all his time, strength and enthusiasm to the museum. Kamo equipped the Geological Museum with modern equipment and enriched  the museum's fund with many new objects and now his aim is to introduce them properly, to organize modern exhibitions.

Today he   maintains the lineament of  his native town of  Yeghegnadzor. It is not an easy task, especially in remote regions especially that he does everything on the account of his art.  May Yeghegnadzor citizens not get hurt, but Kamsar artist is closer to me. He should create. The art space anticipated for him is open. It is still waiting for his individual  exhibitions .......

English translation: Anahit Hovhannisyan