PRESS RELEASE
Black Maria Gallery
Contact: Zara Zeitountsian
323. 660 9393
info@blackmariagallery.com [mailto:info@blackmariagallery.com]

Against the backdrop of gender politics, the ever-evolving roles of
men and women, and particularly the cultural underpinnings that inform
tradition and change, the ‘Knights and Hunters’ exhibition examines
our understanding of what could be described as the gentleman’s ethos
on the one hand, and the Don Juan complex on the other.

Sam Saghatelian and friends in
KNIGHTS AND HUNTERS

Black Maria Gallery: 3137 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90039
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12pm until 6pm (or by appointment)

Los Angeles-Sam Saghatelian, the chief curator of Black Maria and a
multi-faceted artist, invited his fellow friends, Ken Garduno, Jason
Hernandez, Michael C. Hsiung to explore the complex interconnectedness
of chivalry and machismo. "Knights and Hunters," a new group
exhibition will open on Saturday, June 13, at 7 PM.

"Against the backdrop of gender politics, the ever-evolving roles of
men and women, and particularly the cultural underpinnings that inform
tradition and change, the ‘Knights and Hunters’ exhibition examines
our understanding of what could be described as the gentleman’s ethos
on the one hand, and the Don Juan complex on the other," Saghatelian
explained.

"As the works included in the exhibition shed light on the many
ironies of what it might mean to be a man in the contemporary world,
they reveal the comical, the shocking and not-so-shocking, and
sometimes the downright grotesque," Saghatelian continued. "So it is
that many of the works are tongue-in-cheek and unabashedly over the
top. But perhaps the most important thread running through these works
is that of a certain loving curiosity, and ultimately an insistence on
pointing at a common humanity beyond the politics and stereotypes."
"Knights and Hunters" will remain open through Friday, July 11, 2009.

Sam Saghatelian

Sam Saghatelian was born and raised in Armenia. He worked as an
architect until in 1988. At the brink of the collapse of the USSR and
Armenia’s independence, Saghatelian began his journey as an artist. He
exhibited in the Armenian Pavilion at the 2001 Venice Biennale and his
works are part of the permanent collection of the Armenian Museum of
Contemporary Art. In 2003, Saghatelian moved to Los Angeles to
continue his journey as an artist. Since relocating in LA, he has
exhibited at APG Gallery in Atlanta, Black Maria Gallery in Los
Angeles, Articultural Gallery in Los Angeles, Harvest Gallery in Los
Angeles and will be showing at La Luz De Jesus in May of 2008.

Sam Saghatelian about his ON BLACK series

My habitat is in the land of memories and it is constructed of paper
and canvas.

The walls of my mental domicile are made of photos from my family
albums, letters, sketches, erotic cutouts and scribbles. I live in a
land of haze and fog, where it is impossible to separate fact from
fiction and reality from imagination. The moment my present takes form
on the canvas, it belongs to the past, and anything that is committed
to memory tends to age, disintegrate and morphe into an imagined,
often idealized reality.

My world is the world of silent movies. The black canvas is the
silence and the action is almost always accompanied by writing, yet
none of it is coherent, because my unconscious is merely trying to
find a composition for the chaotic flow of information and emotion.

Here, in this black and white world of mine, almost everything appears
out of context; my father, his friends, the pin up girl, a quote, the
house I grew up in, a word, the woman I love, my obsessions, my
fears…they all take part in constructing the big picture, and in the
final analysis, I am the big picture. Me, committing my present to the
past, in silence.