The Armenian woman from New York
By Tamar Gasparian-Chester
Yerkir.am
January 19, 2007
The personal exhibition of Annette Abnus’s works was opened at St.
Vardan Church in New York. The exhibition included about thirty
paintings and drawing from the painter’s Armenian series.
Annette was born in Tehran and now lives and works in the United
States. Such events are very important for a small Armenian community
like the one in New York. And the Church is always supporting such
events.
Annette’s works are characterized by bright colors and sharp
expression.
The paintings in the Armenian series are inspired by the colors
of Armenian carpets and taraz, the national Armenian dresses. The
paintings inspired by the Armenian taraz can be generalized under
the title "The Armenian Woman" – The Armenian Woman from Polis,
The Armenian Woman from Anatolia, from Istanbul, from Tiflis, from
France, Izmir…
These painting do not aim at depicting the details of the Armenian
taraz. What matters here is the colors, the mood and the image of
the woman wearing the taraz.
Another peculiarity of Annette’s work is the surface on which she
paints. She often coats the painting with lace, similar to the lace
with which women cover their heads. This lace is like a layer of
memory that underlies Annette’s series of Armenian paintings. Then
she paints on the lace with the bright and unrestricted colors.
"By covering my paintings with lace and paints I join art, culture
and history. In my paintings you can see layers of thoughts, emotions
and experiences," Annette says.
Not only members of the Armenian community but also a number of
foreigners visit the exhibition at the St. Vardan Church and admire
Annette’s paintings.