Yerevan-based Cafesjian Center for the Arts open "For Armenia" exhibition
The Cafesjian Center for the Arts announces its Grand Opening Celebration, which will begin on the evening of Saturday, November 7th with a spectacular fireworks display near the Cascade monument. Taking over two years and $35 million to complete, the Cascade has been completely transformed into one of the world's outstanding contemporary art centers. On November 8th, the center invites the public to view all the renovations that have taken place inside the Cascade and to enjoy an outstanding schedule of exhibitions, lecturers, book-signings concerts and events. For this one day only, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts will be open to the public with no admission fee.
A number of exhibitions will inaugurate the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, but the most prominent is undoubtedly Libenský Brychtová: For Armenia. The Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection is one of the largest collections of modern glass found in any museum, and its holdings of works by the Czech couple are among the finest in the world. This exhibition, specially designed and installed by Jaroslava Brychtová herself, is a mere fragment of the overall Gerard L. Cafesjian collection, which contains over one hundred pieces by the celebrated couple.
The collaboration of Stanislav Libenský (1921-2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová spanned nearly five decades, and the couple is credited with elevating the status of glass to that of a fine art. They are two of the most influential artists to have worked in the medium during the 20th century. Considered "national treasures" in their homeland of the Czech Republic, the couple has exhibited widely in galleries and museums throughout the world, and their work is in numerous public and private collections.
"Their work shattered the prejudice against glass," Dr. Michael De Marsche, Executive Director of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts recently stated. "Before Libenský Brychtová glass was used primarily for objects that were more decorative in nature. But Libenský Brychtová created work that was authentically modern. They fused monumental abstract shape with a material whose intense color and translucency is unmatched by any other. They demonstrated once and for all that glass could be applied to the more rigorously intellectual realm of large-scale sculpture."
Many of the works in For Armenia resemble Armenia's own traditional khachkar, infusing the work with spiritual meaning and forming a tangible link between the artists and the land they have grown to admire. The Libenský Brychtová relationship with Armenia dates back to the 1980s, when the artists studied the culture and history of Armenia. The devastation of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia had a profound impact on the artists, resulting in the creation of the triptych Silhouettes of the Town (1989. "The Czech and Armenian nations have a lot of things in history that are quite similar," Jaroslava Brychtová stated in a recent visit to Yerevan. "I think the Armenian public will appreciate and understand what we are expressing in our art," she added.
Jaroslava Brychtová will make a rare personal appearance in Yerevan for the opening of the Center and for the exhibition Libenský Brycthtová: For Armenia. The artist will also appear at a number of the Center's opening events on Sunday, November 8th, including the Center's ribbon cutting ceremony, the opening reception for For Armenia, and a book signing for the book Libenský Brychtová.
A number of exhibitions will inaugurate the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, but the most prominent is undoubtedly Libenský Brychtová: For Armenia. The Gerard L. Cafesjian Collection is one of the largest collections of modern glass found in any museum, and its holdings of works by the Czech couple are among the finest in the world. This exhibition, specially designed and installed by Jaroslava Brychtová herself, is a mere fragment of the overall Gerard L. Cafesjian collection, which contains over one hundred pieces by the celebrated couple.
The collaboration of Stanislav Libenský (1921-2002) and Jaroslava Brychtová spanned nearly five decades, and the couple is credited with elevating the status of glass to that of a fine art. They are two of the most influential artists to have worked in the medium during the 20th century. Considered "national treasures" in their homeland of the Czech Republic, the couple has exhibited widely in galleries and museums throughout the world, and their work is in numerous public and private collections.
"Their work shattered the prejudice against glass," Dr. Michael De Marsche, Executive Director of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts recently stated. "Before Libenský Brychtová glass was used primarily for objects that were more decorative in nature. But Libenský Brychtová created work that was authentically modern. They fused monumental abstract shape with a material whose intense color and translucency is unmatched by any other. They demonstrated once and for all that glass could be applied to the more rigorously intellectual realm of large-scale sculpture."
Many of the works in For Armenia resemble Armenia's own traditional khachkar, infusing the work with spiritual meaning and forming a tangible link between the artists and the land they have grown to admire. The Libenský Brychtová relationship with Armenia dates back to the 1980s, when the artists studied the culture and history of Armenia. The devastation of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia had a profound impact on the artists, resulting in the creation of the triptych Silhouettes of the Town (1989. "The Czech and Armenian nations have a lot of things in history that are quite similar," Jaroslava Brychtová stated in a recent visit to Yerevan. "I think the Armenian public will appreciate and understand what we are expressing in our art," she added.
Jaroslava Brychtová will make a rare personal appearance in Yerevan for the opening of the Center and for the exhibition Libenský Brycthtová: For Armenia. The artist will also appear at a number of the Center's opening events on Sunday, November 8th, including the Center's ribbon cutting ceremony, the opening reception for For Armenia, and a book signing for the book Libenský Brychtová.
