Organized By
Philadelphia Sculptors
Elizabeth Doering &
Vazgen Pahlavuni-Tadevosyan
Vazo (Vazgen) and Elizabeth met in 2002 in Gyumri, Armenia where Vazo was born and grew up. Gyumri is the birthplace of Gurdjieff, the 20th century mystic, and it was the site of a catastrophic earthquake in 1988. The effects of the earthquake are still manifest: the rebar and concrete is as present from the construction of new buildings as it is from buildings that fell down. From this vantage point we explore the mystical and artistic possibilities of an imaginary world.
We decided to work together on a project dealing with the possibilities of reconstruction and the paradoxical freedoms that come with democracy. We construct an imaginary world within the “case”, using the shredded dollars as drawing-collage and as a sculptural medium. Three times over the course of the summer we will swap materials through the mail, and work with each other’s progress.
Bios
Elizabeth Doering
I was born in 1966 in Philadelphia. My undergraduate degree is in Anthropology from Amherst College (1988); in 1997 I received my MFA in sculpture from Boston University. After my MFA I won a Fulbright Scholarship in sculpture and lived in the Republic of Cyprus for a total of three years. It was there that I became interested in ethnic and political conflict in the region around Turkey, including Armenia, where Vazo invited me to participate in the 2002 Armenian Biennial. Much of my work over the last five years has used abstraction as a way to describe the elements we have in common as human beings. I have an ongoing project where I work with the wind as a means to create drawings; a mystical practice of culling meaning from the environment around us. I have exhibited regularly in the USA, Europe and the Middle East since 1995. In May, my first major public commission in the USA was installed on Boat House Row in Philadelphia.
Shredded paper currency; collage adhesive; thread; string; wire; graphite; ink; mixed media
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Vazgen Pahlavuni-Tadevosyan
I was born in 1955 in the ex-Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in Leninakan, now Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia. I was a rebel at school – I couldn’t get answers to the questions I was interested in there. I was constantly protesting against the obligatory truths. From 1972 – 1974 I studied at the Fine Arts College in Yerevan, and then attended the Fine Arts Academy in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from 1978 – 1980. All my life I have taught myself, learned by myself. Since Perestroika began (1985) I have been socially and culturally active – particularly in visual arts. I have participated in, and organized many local and international events, exhibitions, and forums. In 1997 I founded the Gyumri Center for Contemporary Art and one year later I founded the Gyumri International Biennial of Contemporary Art. In 2002 I started the magazine “Art Today” and continue as its chief editor. Since 1986 I have organized and/or participated in art events and exhibitions in Armenia, Western Europe, and the USA. Freedom and cultural collaboration are essential to my way of life and work, and I take great pleasure in collaborating on a project that approaches Benjamin Franklin.
