44 - ‡ ANNIE KURKDJIAN (LEBANESE B.1972)

‡ ANNIE KURKDJIAN (LEBANESE B.1972) UNTITLED acrylic on canvas 100 x 100cm (104 x 104cm framed) Sold with a Certificate of Authenticity from Lebanese Talents Property of a Private Collector, Beirut Provenance Acquired directly from the artist's studio by the present owner Born 1972 in Beirut, Annie Kurkdjian's life and art are profoundly shaped by trauma. Her family carries the intergenerational scars of the Armenian genocide, and she spent the first sixteen years of her life enduring the terrifying daily realities of the Lebanese Civil War. A critical turning point occurred at age 12, when her father was violently murdered just as the family was preparing to flee the conflict for France. Kurkdjian holds a BA in Fine Arts and Psychology at the Lebanese University, followed by Theology at St. Joseph’s University. Her paintings have been presented in solo and group exhibitions in London, Beirut, Paris, Lyon, Dubai, and Munich, alongside winning “Johayna Baddoura Prize” in 2012. At first glance, Kurkdjian’s paintings appear sober and humorous, yet they convey a powerful message, displaying stylised beings contorted into tortured and unsettling postures. Sometimes these grotesque figures fixate on the beholder, with a numb eye and vaulted shoulders, as if harassed or lost. The monstrous subjects of these works are intended to be dissected and analysed, producing poignant images with a confrontational and potent impact on their observer. Breathing tragedy, her surrealistic canvases interrogate life, and compel the viewer to contemplate the process of creation and the unsettling syntax of human suffering and resilience.