Pierre Koukjian
Biography
Born in Beirut in 1962, Pierre Koukjian is an award winning designer and painter. Having fled Lebanon with the outbreak of civil war in the mid 1970s, he spent many years living as a nomad of sorts in Germany, France and later the Far East. With little opportunity to complete a formal education, Koukjian jumped into the field of jewelry-making as a young man. As an apprentice in workshops throughout Europe, he perfected his craft and used painting in the planning stages of his designs. He worked vigorously in the medium, while also turning to sculpture as a form of creative expression. Often impressed by the aptitude of his canvases, clients, including international celebrities, would ask to keep these visual works, framing them and placing them in their homes. After long runs as a designer for some of the world’s most recognized brands, he launched his deLaCour atelier in 2002, obtaining immense artistic freedom.
Although the decorative, fine and applied arts are often seen as separate entities, for Koukjian they are all interconnected, as he paints his designs and designs his paintings. This gives his work an invigorated feel with limitless creative bounds. His latest series, “Impressive People,” is a campy Pop-inspired collection of oil paintings that iconifies artists, politicians and public figures into bold oil on canvas works. With a slight nod to Andy Warhol, Koukjian has sought to immortalize not only the personas of his subjects but the saturation of their images in the regional and international media. While many of the paintings make reference to Lebanese politics and music, others capture those who have made international headlines such as the Dali Lama and Indira Ghandi. A minimalist portrait of Egyptian songstress Om Kalthoum speaks of the certain cool that once dominated Arab stardom, while a striking painting of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah extracts the physicality of what makes certain individuals have such an overwhelming presence, tapping into the makeup of celebrity status and blurring the lines between popular culture and politics.
Artist Exhibitions
Pierre Koukjian - Impressive People, Q Contemporary Art Gallery, Beirut 31 Mar - 17 Apr, 2010View Exhibition
Selected Works
HR. PK3 Pierre KOUKJIAN ‘Impressive People 3’ 120 X 120 cm. Oil on Canvas 2009
PK28 Pierre KOUKJIAN ‘Impressive People’ 150 X 150 cm. Oil on Canvas 2010
PK38 Pierre Koukjian 'Ya Leil Ma Atwalak (Oh night, it’s been too long)' 100 x 110 cm. Green Neon on Black Chassis Edition of 6 2011.jpg