Lebanese-American, b.1949 in Beirut to Armenian Genocide survivors. Semi abstract figurative and modern abstract expressionist contemporary painter, Missak Terzian studied at Ecole d’Art Guvder in 1968 and graduated from London College of Printing in 1971.
He held his first major art exhibition in 1984. Since then, the artist has participated in 143 exhibitions worldwide.
His paintings are part of many collections in Europe, the United States, Canada, Lebanon, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of China; namely the Saudi Royal family and prominent Lebanese political personalities. His works are on permanent display at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Dubai Collection, the Bank of Sharjah head office and throughout Lebanon at DAF Dalloul Art Foundation, the bank Audi head office, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia museum, the Haigazian university, the Sursock museum, the museum of Bzommar, the Banque du Liban head office and the Mokbel Art Collection.
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 semi-abstraction ” Missak Explains.
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
2013 Artblend, Artists Haven Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A.
2013 Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, New York, U.S.A.
– Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, New York, U.S.A.
Artist’s Statement: Timeless Dream
As time controls us, I experience timelessness through my paintings. Deep in my creative world and submerged into classical music, only a wall clock in my studio or a phone call consciously shifts my focus of attention to time and existence.
So time does not have to control or define me. Time would definitely shape and limit my life, if I allow it.
I am not at the end of a process. I am the process, similar to the original force of cosmic explosions, unfolding and expanding forever. As long as I create, I become part to the energy of the universe beyond definition, evolving creatively and transforming art several more times, over and over.
To truly start to see my works as they are, you have to go into them. Be them. Feel them. My Soul is in every single brush stroke. Being who I am, I call into being the timeless light in every painting I create.
Dreaming is an embodiment of Creation which is the source of perpetual creating and therefore helps me give a meaning to my art. Art is more than an object-painting. It’s not just a thing. It’s hundreds of hours of failures and experimentations. It’s days, weeks and months of frustration and moments of pure joy. It’s a piece of my heart, part of my soul, a moment of my life. When my dream is transferred to you, you become part of it.
This is the true meaning of the Timeless Dream.
Missak Terzian
Artist’s Statement: Utopia Exhibition
Artist’s Statement, “Utopia”, June 2022
In 2017, I pivoted from semi-abstract figurative expressionism to modern geometric abstraction. It was a turning point in my career.
The shift can be attributed to my experiences at two of the world’s most extraordinary sights: Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, and Faraya in Lebanon.
I marveled at Bryce Canyon’s huge and immersive amphitheater, home to the greatest concentration of “hoodoos” on earth.
Likewise, while off-roading in Faraya with Mr. Johnny Mokbel, I found myself struck with awe and inspiration over the millenary limestone rock formations, carved by wind and water over the centuries. I stood astonished by a chain of six hills 1900 meters above the sea level.
The Rock & Landscape series came to life on very large canvasses between 2019 and 2021. Large paintings, to me, are grandiose. You are in it. I characterize my paintings by minimalist or complex hard-edged compositions of shapes and colors. My 50 years of chromatic experience was stimulated to interact in primary, secondary and tertiary chromatic palettes, which made the journey more enjoyable. Each tone reveals a particular weight, density, and transparency.
My new collection consists of several series: Rock, Rock Variations, Kissing Rocks, Skyhill, Earthrise, Blue Diamond, Palm Tree and Olive Tree.
