Mayis Mkhitaryan's biography
Mayis Mkhitaryan was born on October 4, 1962, in Tbilisi. 1983-1987 attended Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. In 1996, at the invitation of art critic Henrik Igityan, he moved to Yerevan. In 1992, he received an award named after Achemyan. In 2000, the artist became a member of the Artists' Union of Armenia. Since 2003, he has been a member of the International Society of UNESCO Artists. In 2011, Mayis was awarded a medal by the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin B. Since 2008, he has been the main artist of the Petros Adamian Tbilisi State Armenian Drama Theatre.
Since 1983, Mayis has participated in many exhibitions and art expos organized in Armenia and throughout the world. In 1993, a great number of exhibitions were held in Yerevan and Tbilisi.
In 2003 he had a solo exhibition in Moscow, in 2014 he had a group exhibition in Florence and in several countries around the world.
Many of the artist's works are in museums and private collections in Armenia, Georgia, Russia, America, England, Canada, China, Australia and a number of other European countries.
In 2022, the presentation of the book by Franz Werfel "Jeremiah: Listen to the voice" and the exhibition of Mayis’s graphic works were jointly held and in 2021 the presentation of the book "The Life of Our Lord" by Charles Dickens and another exhibition of Mayis were held.
In 2023, Mayis Mkhitaryan had several solo exhibitions in Yerevan, and the presentation of his album was also held in the same year, another one- in 2006.
Mayis Mkhitaryan created a number of plays.
"They Called", directed by Armen Bayanduryan, 1992
"40 Days Before Ascension", directed by Albert Safaryan, 2003
"Autumn Dusk", directed by Armen Bayanduryan, 2019
The books illustrated by Mayis Mkhitaryan:
"Testament by Jonah," 2012
"Sayat-Nova", a collection of poems, 2007
"The Birth of Vahagn or the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ", Grigor Movsisyan, 2012
"Yudit", Artak Voskanyan, 2014
"Creation", Khachik Harutyunyan, 2020
"The Life of Our Lord, Charles Dickens, 2021
"Jeremiah: Hear the Voice,” Franz Werfel, 2022
A number of documentaries were dedicated to Mayis Mkhitaryan։
“Mayis Mkhitaryan,” directed by Nora Muradyan, 1997
"Self-portrait", directed by Ruben Kochar, 2018
"My children are Armenian", directed by Hakob Kutsusyan, 2002 (Canada)
For the Glory of God
Aramais (Mayis) Mkhitaryan, the Song of First Live, 2021, 50x40
Aramais (Mayis) Mkhitaryan, Melody of Silence, 2022, 50x40
...
“Time is the best judge and by cleaning the successive course of centuries, it filters and preserves only the valuable that left its mark in life, art or elsewhere.
Mayis Mkhitaryan's works cross the line between the real and the unreal, the dreamy and the imaginary. The compositions on spiritual and worldly themes are the decoding of the inner world of the artist. His realistic paintings are iconographic, icons are realistic. His works bridge the traditions of medieval and modern arts, his characters hover between the earth and the sky, making the spiritual primary through the carnal heroes. Nevertheless, even the symbolism evident in the works is realistic, never fictional. They are the master's thoughts, perhaps, his formula of a real person: the supremacy of spiritual values, value system all in all.
The interpretations of spiritual themes are the transmitters of evangelical wisdom, the characters are honest and sincere, mystical ("Mysterious Supper", "Annunciation", "Our Lady ", "Adam and Eve", etc...). They are divine, heavenly, but at the same time human. The depictions of fish that have come down to us from ancient cultures, as a symbol of the beginning of life, birth, fertility, are presented in the works of the artist with a special meaning and receive a unique perception. Here, the image of a fish (still found in the catacombs) specific to Early Christian art is most obvious as a symbol of Christianity and the Lord.
Mystical, honest, sincere "actors" are dressed in miraculous outfits. Rich in frills, luxurious, colorful, they too, like in the art of the Renaissance, stand firmly on the ground, nonetheless they are carefree, endowed with majestic beauty. The models of allegorical compositions are often inseparable from the flora and fauna ("Surprise", "Song of the Crane", "For You" Sayat-Nova", "Thoughts of Love", "Nazani", etc.). Along with the figures, the artist quite often depicts martens as a symbol of consciousness, purity and innocence which originated in Antiquity and was established in medieval and Renaissance art.
Fragments of vivid childhood impressions accumulated in his birthplace are also present in the artist's works. The latter find their own interpretation in solemn, often theatrical, miraculous characters, recreating their visual vision of the past already in adulthood ("Secret Love", "Surprise", "Silence of Dialogue", "Self-Portrait", etc.). The actors seem to be individual actors transferred from Tiflis national households to the present day.
It is obvious that theater and theater art occupy a great place and role in Mayis Mkhitaryan's works. The more biblical themes are simple and "readable", the more allegorical the artists in his mask are. The latter are born from the actors of "Commedia dell'arte", bearing the foundations of theater art. They, diverse, contrasting with each other, seem to demonstrate the substrata of human nature. Masks and various outfits have transported the actors of the Italian street theater to our days, with their individual character, destiny, and lifestyle. The external form attached objects are the bearers and silent witnesses of all stories.
It is not known whether the works are born in the mind of the author or whether their starting point is the universe. In other words, is art in general Adamic or cosmic? Perhaps the answer to this question is not so important, the important thing is that the artist's canvases nullify reality, transfer to another world or, perhaps, create their own, where the time that runs at a crazy speed seems to physically slow down. Where the heroes-characters speak in a different language, understandable to everyone: body language, gesture language. A universal language that is beyond formulas and algorithms, whose revealer is the art-it is spiritual, emotional, and sincere”.
Hripsime Vardanyan
Art Critic
Doctor of Philosophy (PH.d) in Arts
Lecturer of YSU, Chair of Armenian Art History and Theory
“It is impossible to give an exhaustive interpretation of the world illuminated by Mayis Mkhitaryan's art, because his works are cracks of light cut by the artist's talent in the perception of the bottomless inner world of a man and the surrounding universe, and no matter how research methods develop, the infinity of the contradictory spirituality of a man and the mysteries of the starry sky will not run out. Future explorers will repeatedly approach the cracks of light created by the power of the creative mind discovering new horizons and crystal bells within them”.
Vardan Khachatryan
“Bazhbeuk Melikyan, Gayane Khachatryan, Sergey Parajanov, Mayis Mkhitaryan are from the same planet , though they highly differ”.
Henrik Igityan
“Mayis, the powerful energy of your fine art simply shocked me. What is connected with you is sacred for me”.
Gayane Khachatryan
“I am shocked and delighted, also convinced that my good friend Mayis Mkhitaryan is not only a genius painter, but a very talented person in the world of art”.
Robert Sturua
“Mayis's art is beyond ‘isms’. He conveys the visible and invisible beauty to the canvas”.
Armen Jigarkhanyan
“The greatest artist Mayis Mkhitaryan, like Martiros Saryan, Gevorg Bashinjaghyan, Yervand Kochar and other great people of our people, left his birthplace and moved to his homeland with his family.
With the realization of the words of St. John the Baptist, ‘Man cannot do anything of his own, unless it is given to him from heaven’ the master creates, writing the words ‘For the glory of God’ on each canvas born”.
Grigor Movsisyan
“The universe with its colorful palette fits into the inner world of Mayis. His art is full of love, invisible subtle feelings and grace given by God”.
Perchanush Ispiryan
“I am pleased and happy to know an outstanding artist Mayis. I admire thе mystic world, lavish color, and vivid images of this master bearing the reflection of eternity and beauty on themselves”.
Liana Lobjanidze