American Artist.
1949, born in Lebanon to Armenian parents.

With an innate and primal impulse to create, figurative artist Missak Terzian is in timeless search for existentialism and is eager to record time and occurrences .
“For me, painting is a visual testament of the mind, body and spirit. Distortion and exaggeration triggers a continuous search into an unknown abstraction” Missak explains.

Missak Terzian exploits acrylics and oils, graphite, collage, bonding agents, oil pastels and Lebanese soil. “With these materials, I unearth figurative images,” Missak says.

Missak’s works are in many private collections in Lebanon, in the Middle-East, the United Arab Emirates, Europe, Canada and the United States.
Since 1984, Missak Terzian has participated in 73 exhibitions worldwide - biennales, group shows, international art fairs, juried exhibitions, including 13 solo shows.
His works are also displayed in a permanent collection at the Museum of Bank Audi, Beirut Central District, Lebanon and the Armenian Catholicossate Museum of Cilicia, Antelias, Lebanon.

ARTISTIC EDUCATION
1969 Graduated from Guvder Art School, Beirut, Lebanon
1971 Graduated from London College of Printing, London, United Kingdom

PRIZES
1967 1st Prize of Jury Paul Guiragossian, U.J.A.C.,  Bourj Hamoud, Lebanon
1996 2nd Prize at the 2nd Egyptian Print Biennale, Cairo, Egypt

MEMBERSHIP
1989 Member of Los Angeles Art Association, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
1997 Member the Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon
2007 Member of the Contemporary Art Network, New York, U.S.A.
2008 Member the Lebanese Artists Association, Beirut, Lebanon

GALLERY REPRESENTATION
1987-1999 Galerie Epreuve d’Artiste, Beirut, Lebanon
1992-1993 Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.
2002-2007 Galerie Brönte, Beirut, Lebanon
2009-present Octavia Gallery, United Kingdom
2009-present Noah’s Ark Gallery, Zalka, Lebanon
2009-present Alwane Gallery, Saifi Village, Beirut, Lebanon

WORKS ON DISPLAY AT:
- Stephanie’s Fine Art Gallery, La Canãda, California, U.S.A.
- Gloria Delson Gallery, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
- Arts & Beyond, Sodeco, Beirut, Lebanon
- Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, Lebanon
- Noah’s Ark Gallery, Zalka, Lebanon
- Alwane Gallery, Saifi Village, Beirut, Lebanon

74 exhibitions worldwide, includes 14 solo shows

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
As an artist, my primal impulse to mark is to paint a visual testament of the mind, body and spirit. A search for identity and meaning embodying my urge to create in a figurative tradition. This compulsion could be a result of frustration or my need to challenge the world around me. Without certainty of what compels me to do so, I feel strongly about communicating my feelings.

My work deals with susceptibility, submission and fragility. It summons past emotions and images, perhaps my feelings about women, relationships with my mother, wife, children and other male and female individuals that play a part in each painting. My work avoids this vulnerability and surrenders to violation. My canvasses are surfaced with acrylics and oils, graphite, collage, bonding agents, oil pastels and Lebanese soil. With these materials, I unearth figurative images. Some violent brushstrokes reveal my painting’s history and progress. I feel a connection to the past and insist on expressing existence. Distortion and exaggeration triggers in me a continuous search for the truth and the unknown. The creative process of art makes me a part of this search.

I believe that art cannot be measured. There are no absolutes, no relations, no biases and no cultures. For me, art is about empowerment. Art takes time, commitment, failure and revisions, wakes up the imagination and stimulates new resolution.