Atom Hovhanesyan

"The Only Magic Left is Art" by Brandon Long & Chaz McIntyre

There is an invisible revolution going on right now and the old ways are being uprooted by a new generation of artists through social media. 10 years ago, it was practically impossible to get exposure to a vast international audience without being sponsored by a high profile company. Now, all of that is about to change. Never before have we lived in a time where artists have an even playing field against the more privileged. Talent is finally becoming the backbone of success rather than nepotism. Money is irrelevant. Vision now has the power to go viral. We are entering an era of "artistic equality" among the creative stratosphere. Follow us to see how we support and document one of the most important coming of age art revolutions in history. Join our newsletter below and we'll keep you updated! Invisible Revolution NewsletterPOSTSASK US ANYTHINGSUBMITMANIFESTOARTISTS ON TUMBLRART SUBSCRIPTIONSBEST NEW MUSICILLUSTRATIONPHOTOGRAPHYMIXED MEDIAFILMMAKINGFASHIONCOMEDYPOETRYARCHIVEPaintings by Atom Hovhanesyan ( b.1981 in Yerevan, Armenia).

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Gone Too Soon, Yet Explored a New Era of ArtYLENIA MINO SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 4 MINS READ1.5K VIEWS Artist Atom Hovhanesyan, August 19, 1981- May 10, 2018

“The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech.” – Vincent van Gogh

Yes! We all feel a thousand emotions in our lives, and some of us get affected by it a bit too much, and as artists, they create a new direction in the art scene. Atom’s art has a lot to say about the same. Atom Hovhanesyan was based in New York City, a young, talented, and passionate artist truly in love with painting and drawing.

Atom’s father had seen him painting for more than 24 hours tirelessly until the last days of Atom’s life in his studio in NYC, which is also supposed to be the place where he left this world. Atom had called his style of art “Post Divisionist and Abstract”. It truly justifies his artworks. Born in Armenia, where his father Ara Hovhannisyan was an electrical engineer and his mother Gayane Davtyan was a personnel manager in an urban trade corporation and also created artworks as a hobby. Well, it was Atom’s mother from whom Atom inherited his artistic skills. It was in July 1997 when Atom’s parents along with Atom and his sister immigrated to the USA.

Artwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom Hovhanesyan

Atom was based in New York since the age of 16 in 1997. He was an academic learner in the field of fine art, He studied at the Art Students League, National Academy of New York and Grand Central Academy. Atom seems to be inspired by every art movement as can be distinctly seen in his art pieces. Atom’s realistic anatomy and portraits could be related to Renaissance, and his abstract works to Cubism, Impressionism, Divisionism to Post-Impressionism; Van Gogh looks like his favorite. These were the words by Atom, while he explained his medium of works, “Traditional choice of materials and medium, grind my colors. In the abstract works: my goal is to create a unified atmosphere and sense of luminosity. Bits and pieces of forms from memory are utilized as building blocks for constructing the composition.” 

Atom’s professional life was a combination of varied professions. He had also pursued economics at St. John’s University. Atom started working at the age of 16 and paying his expenses. He was also appointed as a General Manager at Prime Grill, Beverly Hills, CA, one of the most luxurious restaurants that attracted famous Hollywood celebrities. Atom worked there from 2006 to 2008 which was the only time he had spent outside New York. It was in 2009 when Atom decided to pursue his passion and love for art as a full-time artist.

It is good to know that Atom’s every artwork and writings are being well preserved and highly valued by his family, which now manages everything he left behind, which are more than 200 artworks. Atom’s father shares that Atom had gifted many of the artworks, which shows he was a kind-hearted soul. His artworks are also in private collections. Atom studied anatomy, figure drawing, portraits, and life drawings under the guidance of various mentors namely; Phil Michelson, Michael Grimaldi, Tom Torak, and Dan Thompson. Atom studied works by different artists right from Cubism, Impressionism, Divisionism to Post-Impressionism including artists like De Kooning, Kandinsky, Picasso, Seurat, and Cezanne and Van Gogh. Atom visited museums, bought the monographs of the masters, studied and combined the study of different art movements in art history including the era of Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael to excel the human anatomy and realistic rendering style which could be seen in some of the portrait paintings made by Atom.

Artwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom Hovhanesyan

The decade of Atom’s artistic career had many art exhibitions. He exhibited at Pechersky Gallery, Moscow, Russia in 2014; Novomoskovsk Art Gallery, Russia 2014-2017, Annual Exhibition Art Students League of New York 2015-2016, Kunstmatrix.com online exhibition Berlin 2018, Artpal online exhibition New York 2018 and Jose Art Gallery 2018. Atom also participated in multiple private art shows in Manhattan, NY in 2016 and 2017. He was also represented In various events organized and managed by “FED” Inc. Harlem, New York City, from February to July 2019. His works were also exhibited in San Diego Expo May 2019 and Clio Art Fair Exhibition March 5-8, New York 2020. Atom’s artworks have been featured in Artist Portfolio Magazine, Issue 38, 39, 41, 42, and 43. Also featured in SPOTLIGHT ART Magazine Issue 15 and 16 along with the Important World Artists 4 Book May 2020, 4 pages in Premium Presentation.

Artwork by Atom HovhanesyanArtwork by Atom Hovhanesyan

Atom shared a good bond with his family. Atom’s mother accompanied him to museum visits and his father always insisted to support him financially. But as Atom always wanted to be independent and not to burden anyone, he resisted any financial help from his family. Atom also helped his sister Ellen Davtyan with the interior design of her house and gifted her many of his early Artworks. As we begin to talk about the roller coaster of emotions that flooded Atom’s life, it is noted that he had been through heartbreak and betrayal in both his personal life and professional life. Atom’s beloved girlfriend and many of his business colleagues had betrayed him which had broken his trust many times; he who saw the world as transparent and value being true to everyone did not see this happen with him. The time when the real world hit him hard, he had unconsciously gotten those trapped feelings into his artworks. The paintings of a woman, the dark colors of his palate, and the endless strokes say it all. One day something deep inside had given him the courage to take his own life. Maybe he was in search of a better world with the honesty which he deserved!

Atom would always be remembered for the unique style and presentation of concept as a unique artist of the current art world. The style that combines different eras, yet in harmony. Atom isn’t physically here with us today, yet his presence and energy is still alive and resides in his every art piece.

For Atom’s original artworks, artist statement and bio visit www.artbyatom.com

Email arahov62@yahoo.com (Ara Hovhannisyan, Atom’s father)

Instagram @artbyatomhov (original works updated by Atom’s parents) and @atom_hov (created by Atom)

In collaboration with Grishma Khodaria

Crossing a Line – An Appreciation of Atom Hovhanesyan’s Artistic Endeavors

At times, it is difficult to separate the artist from his creations. The two are often, one hopes, reflections of the artist’s experience and his spirit. Atom Hovhanesyan’s (Hovhannisyan) work, obsessively personal, is an honest expression of his complex personal story, which concluded abruptly in 2018 after a brief life of globetrotting, by chance or by design. 

Hovhanesyan (known as Hovhanesyan, which his father Armenian last name misspelled: Hovhannisyan) was born in Yerevan, Armenia in 1981, and he would go on to grow up in Algiers and later in his native land until permanently moving to the US with his family as a teenager. His work is a journey in itself. From oil to ink, from imitation to intimate expression, his paintings display the growth process and artistic trajectory of a promising young talent. While appreciating the continuum of change in his work, Hovhanesyan’s art remains grounded in a very simple geometric component: the line. Straight or delicately curved, Hovhanesyan’s juxtaposition of innumerable linear strokes serves to build up images in oil, ink, or even pen, transcending media and serving as a very personal form of expression. 

Employing the canvas in its entirety, it is his repeated overlapping of thin brushstrokes or ink lines, which allows figures and landscapes to emerge from the saturated and seemingly accidental application of his linear strokes. Color is used amply in earlier, quasi-impressionistic works, gradually giving way to controlled palettes mainly composed of blue and yellow and to the complete absence of color in Hovhanesyan’s ink works.

While he dabbled in both the abstract and the portrayal of natural landscapes, Hovhanesyan’s strongest and most effective works remain his depictions of the human form. His languid-eyed women, as well as other subjects of almost indeterminate gender, proffer to the viewer their deep gazes and elongated androgynous bodies. They appear to be looking into the distance, away from the immediate here and now and into deeper, more intimate thoughts. Clearly a reflection of the artist’s personal struggles with mental health, these multi-linear figures, particularly those executed in pen and ink, reveal a darker side to the human condition and are meticulously executed in his signature method.

Hovhanesyan’s paintings and drawings appear to draw from isolation and stark personal torment in order to present a searingly honest depiction of the average human being’s often hidden, even secret emotions. It is this very same window into his innermost psyche and emotional turmoil, no doubt reflecting the unstable, at times violent environment he experienced as a sensitive child growing up in war torn, Soviet Armenia. This understanding allows views to identify with Hovhanesyan’s art, which is the product of a shifting society and an itinerant family. His work is expressive, intimate, and immediately relatable to the self-aware viewer. Often almost eerily photographic in the way they replicate the play of light in dark spaces, his line drawings, particularly those executed in monochrome, appear to represent the human condition and its inherent struggle, made only too poignant by the artist’s untimely and tragic demise. Having taken up painting as a form of therapy to temper his depression and anxiety, investing time and uncommon care in the preparation of his works, Hovhanesyan was known to prepare his own colors in the manner of his much admired European masters, mixing pigment and adhesive to then saturate his canvases in paint. His method of creation is described as being in natural evolution, with works developing instinctively rather than in a pre-planned fashion as is often the case with classical painters.

Hovhanesyan was in fact known to spend up to 72 hours drawing at a stretch, contributing to the haunting and quasi-obsessive quality of his works. Self-trained and undoubtedly passionate about his metier, Hovhanesyan’s work is testament to personal and artistic evolution, ranging from the modernist to the post-impressionist via cubism in inspiration. These artistic movements, now historical rather than contemporary, are distilled in Hovhanesyan’s masterly strokes and mathematically successful compositions and reinvented to suit his own narrative. Despite his self-professed ‘luminosity,’ his expertly crafted work remains dark, personal, and oftentimes harking to very intimate struggles. Inspiring and technically accomplished, Atom Hovhanesyan is an artist who is being re-evaluated in light of his portrayal of the human condition, arguably one of Art’s most valuable contribution to civilization and the world as we know it today.