Armen Eloyan was born in 1966 in Armenia. Growing up in Soviet Armenia, Eloyan cites cartoons from East and West as having great influence over his artistic practice. Aged seventeen, he was responsible for colouring and graphic elements in animator Robert Sahakian’s studio.
Eloyan’s bold, colourful depiction of anthropomorphic figures to construct sardonic and often comic narratives, nods to a long history of cartoons as a means of artistic satire. As he states, ‘cartoons parody the culture….how humans behave like animals sometimes- how ridiculous politics can be’.
Works by Armen Eloyan at auction
The current Antiques, Fine Art & Collectables auction is notable for its inclusion of several original works by Armenian-born artist Armen Eloyan. Each lot (399, 400, and 401) is one of a series titled A while ago the elephant ordered the ants to make him a burger.
The sale of these works just months after Eloyan’s immersive solo exhibition ‘When it’s good it’s great’ at Mayfair’s Timothy Taylor gallery, attests to Eloyan’s growing prevalence in the UK.
The presence of a professional tattoo artist at this recent exhibition to administer designs by the artist onto obliging audience members, saw the tongue-in-cheek spirit of works such as A while ago the elephant ordered the ants to make him a burger elevated to performance form.
Carlo Collodi’s original Pinnochio, in which the character is introduced not as a boy, or a hero, but a ‘piece of wood’, is a common motif throughout Eloyan’s oeuvre. Indeed, within ‘A while ago the elephant ordered the ants to make him a burger’ Eloyan contorts the log figure that dominated earlier works such as Untitled (Painter ii), 2009 to eerily almost-human depictions of wood that ask the viewer to look twice.
The influence of Abstract Expressionists such as Philip Guston and William de Kooning, as well as Eloyan’s immersion in punk culture, are further evident throughout Eloyan’s practise. While A while ago the elephant ordered the ants to make him a burger signals a departure from the rough brushstrokes and dripping paint of previous work, the ambiguous, nonsensical title echoes Raymond Pettibon’s work with SST records and Sonic Youth.
Auction Details
Antiques, Fine Art & Collectables | Friday 3rd March 2023
Pictures – Lots 338 – 404
Viewings in Birmingham
- Tuesday 28th February 10:00-16:00
- Wednesday 1st March 10:00-16:00
- Thursday 2nd March 10:00-16:00
- Friday 3rd March 8:30-10:00
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Orla Taylor-Davies | BA (Hons)
