“Murdered Theater”: Avo Khalatyan’s canvases speak of loss, memory and creation
“Now, I begin my dizzying run again, and from three colors—blue, black and white—I look into your eyes. Now I speak to you, and together, we will find the image of the Holy Mother. Inside the doors of the murdered theater, my humbled canvases bore the face of Eduard, in search of the Holy Mother. Perhaps we too will pass and go, but these petrified three colors will live on for a very long time. Hello, I am Avo Khalatyan.”
“Murdered Theater” is a reimagining of a performance originally staged by Arthur Saribekyan at the Hakob Paronyan State Musical Comedy Theater, based on Paulo Coelho’s novel Veronika Decides to Die. In this exhibition, bed sheets turn into canvases, and Avo Khalatyan, embodying Eduard, creates a new visual language.
In an interview with the Weekly, Khalatyan, an actor and painter, shared the inspiration behind the exhibition, held at Art Kvartal in Yerevan.
“I decided to give a new life to the set designs and create this exhibition because I felt immense anger seeing those artworks abandoned and neglected by the state theater,” he explained.
“It’s precisely such conditions and emotional states that compel an artist to create something meaningful and lasting. Fertile ground and a colorful environment don’t necessarily produce interesting works, and no matter how much they try to kill art, it will still come to life,” the artist noted.
Khalatyan welcomes the idea that some viewers may encounter the essence of the performance for the first time through these paintings, trying to understand Coelho’s novel through his visual interpretation.
He sees a close connection between theater and visual art. “Being involved in three fields of art, I can equate painting with theatrical art because the processes are similar. The way a painting is created is the same as a performance’s development—an initial sketch is like the table read, the mise-en-scène is the first striking image, then comes the development and finally, the coda. These are very much alike. The choice of color, the tone, the message—it’s all the same.”
“The only difference is that theater is a collective art form, while painting is individual. Both are close to my heart. I feel good in both. I’m happy on stage and I’m happy in front of a canvas,” the artist said.
The exhibition, curated by Sona Minasyan and Harutyun Hovsepyan (HovHar), founder-director of Art Kvartal, has drawn strong responses from family, friends and even foreign visitors. Khalatyan notes that each creative work marks a new stage in the life of an artist.
“I was quite impressed—not just as a viewer but as someone coordinating the exhibition. When I started to arrange the paintings, to hang them in the gallery, to touch and feel their energy, and interact with the artist, my emotions took on a whole new meaning—more friendly, more professional,” Hovsepyan said.
Art is in Khalatyan’s blood. He is the son of painter Henrik Khalatyan and actress Piruza Kozakyan, and the husband of singer Nune Yesayan.
His mother fondly recalled her son’s creative path, which started at Hakob Kojoyan Art School.
“My son has loved art from a very young age. He grew up around his father’s friends—Ara Shiraz, Ruben Hovhannisyan, Robert Elibekyan. He was admitted to and graduated with honors from the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinematography. He is my only son, my pride. Once, he read Yeghishe Charents’ most complex poems on stage, earning the audience’s admiration. It takes inner strength to convey the genius of those lines,” she explained.
“As for this exhibition—I can say that my son worked extremely hard, painting nonstop from morning until night. Seeing his emotions and inner experience from the side, I understood how much effort and energy he was investing in these canvases. As always, I am proud and I know that he will still achieve great things.”
“Murdered Theater” will remain open at Art Kvartal until July 6. International exhibitions are already being planned—first in Moscow, followed by Los Angeles and New York.
Anzhela Sedrakyan
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