Portrait Of Jacques Karamanoukian

by Jay Pinka

If you are an artist searching for a way to make your art mean something to you, be certain to talk with Jacques Karamanoukian. Don't be taken aback by the fact that Jacques is the owner of Galerie Jacques, has exhibited his work at Galerie Imago, Galerie Pleine Marges, and the 3e Festival International d' Art Moderne et Contemporaine in France. Don't feel at a loss for witty, allusive comebacks about art just because Jacques has collaborated or exhibited with famous artists like Dubuffet, Sendrey and Comeille. Jacques, surrounded by the works of French artists Al Richard, Adjar and himself, bears not a shred of masky pretentiousness about him.

The way Jacques works in the studio is evidence of his sincere, direct approach to people and the world. When he paints, he unleashes and discovers a psychic landscape that resurrects him in enamel and oil. He describes the creative process as "...a struggle...a painting is a problem to be solved. . .but you want to have a good time too."

As a self-educated artist Karamanoukian creates his own inner art academy. Jacques refuses to conform to typical, meticulous studies in landscapes or still life. In his "Monk 616," Karamanoukian's expressionist tendencies both manifest the mazes of his mind and reveal a reclusive, solitary Jacques, working late into the night. "I distort things according to my will," says Jacques - a modern St. George, who also has enough insight to tolerate the fire of his own strange, creative dragons. Jacques will gladly point out the hidden shapes in his work, fleshing out meaning from seeming chaos. Jacques' choice of the drip technique, developed by Jackson Pollack, reflects his need to work fast, visually noting the information that arises from within him at high speeds.

"You have to be very agile with your hands and mind at the same time," says Jacques. "You want to give your unconscious as much freedom as you can."

"Struggle," for example, simulates a black, chaotic labyrinth of the imagination. Here Jacques wrestles with his creative angels, while sprinkling black paint, smearing it into a maze, spraying gold paint over it and finally, slapping on a juvenile, fïngerpainted look with the graffiti technique. The direct, interactional approach to artmaking integrates his whole being. "It doesn't make a God out of you," he says, "It keeps you humble."

Jacques Karamanoukian clearly works with the flux of inner and outer tides, refusing to gloss his artistic harvest of mazes into a Hallmark-like cast of impressionist gardenscapes.

Jacques gathers inspiration from Picasso's exploration of mythology, freedom and the breaking down of forms. The surreal strain in "The Little Head" reveals influences from automatic drawings by "poet-artist" Andre Masson. In this work an off-symmetrical, expressive figure with a blue triangle for one eye and a red splotch for the other is either crying or laughing. Jacques discovered the portrait of a surreal "friend" in the colorful shapetext only after the painting experience.

"What excites me is the unknown," says Jacques. "I like to be surprised." Jacques' zeal for mystery explains his appreciation for the magical dynamic and emotional presence of artist Jackson Pollack. We see the influence of Pollock in "Composition," a combination of black, maze-like brush strokes and the drip technique spatterings in blue, grey, orange and black. Here the flurry of colors seem to shoot onto the paper, a result of the "dance method." This is a method in which the artist paints by walking around the paper and orchestrating color from various angles. The structure is a moving, breathing creature that casts a spell on the artist, leading you through the labyrinth to the magical altar of self-discovery.

"Magic is not in the tube or in The New York Times," says Jacques, who acknowledges the true sources of powerful art as channeled from the mythological visions of ancient peoples. "When the white man wants to elevate the magic of art, he goes to the old cultures."

Joseph Campbell showed us that primitive man hailed magic, not meat or money, with art, to express and reflect on self and community. But today in America, Karamanoukian notices a disturbing emphasis on financial gain, rather than personal fulfillment through artistic expression.

"When people talk about art, they talk about money - like how much the Van Gogh's sold for," says Karamanoukian. "...If you don't care as much about fame or money you'll have freedom." His concern with artistic freedom correlates with the current mood of inhibition, self-doubt and fear of honest expression caused by the favoring of stricter censorship policies in this country.

"Conservative ideas are polluting people's minds so people cannot feel free," he says. "Let's say you're opposed to the invasion of Iraq and the killing of thousands of people...obviously you're in the minority," states Karamanoukian.

But Jacques Karamanoukian, though he has his own artistic values intact, continually allows for disparate beliefs and practices. He repeatedly states, "I'm no judge. People can do what they want," and the flipside of the same concept: "I'm not out to please people. Personally, I'm getting nowhere."

There is one thing that Jacques is getting out of his work, and that is pleasure. Much of his enjoyment comes from his ability to laugh at the world. "The way to overecome it is to see it as a big circus with a lot of clowns. You might take Dan Quayle tragically once or twice, but you just have to laugh at him."

You can discover this saving humor (if you read French) for yourself by reading Karamanoukian's Dadaist poetry. He keeps a stack of it at Galerie Jacques for visitors to laugh or cry at as they walk back into the comparitively drab world.

Though something is lost in the translation of French to English, art to journalism, and the personality of Jacques Karamanoukian in this article, there is one saving grace. You can go to Galerie Jacques and experience Jacques Karamanoukian yourself - after all experience is the best teacher, and probably an even better artist. But of course, Jacques will probably tell you that it is only the artist in yourself that truly knows.

Galerie Jacques is located at 616 Wesley, or call 665-9889.