Minas Semertzian (Greek Armenian, 1945- )
mixed media on canvas
110 x 140 cm.
MAKE AN ENQUIRY
Minas Semertzian was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. In 1965, he moved to Paris, where he studied at the Ecole des beaux-arts until 1968. His first solo exhibition was held at the Galerie 9 in Paris and was followed by many group shows at other galleries of the city. In 1976, he came back to Athens and continued to show his work both in Greece and abroad. In 2014, the Benaki Museum presented a retrospective exhibition of his work in collaboration with Kourd Gallery.
Minas’ paintings are simultaneously tender and aggressive, erotic and political. His protagonists vary as much as the world around us. Women, birds, volcanoes, flowers, typhoons, Joseph Beuys and Icarus jump out of the canvas to question Minas’ previous works, as well as the society that created them.