- Venue
- The Tabernacle
- Starts
- Tuesday, November 1, 2011
- Ends
- Sunday, November 6, 2011
- Address
- The Tabernacle, The gallery, Powis Square W11 2AY
- Location
- London
Faces of Rajasthan Artist Staphan Sarkissian has travelled to India many times over the last decade, but it was only when he visited Northern India that inspiration struck and Staphan felt compelled to paint a series of portraits of the people he encountered. ‘I suppose I have always been resistant to painting pictures about India. There is the danger of creating kitschy exotica and also something easy and tasteless about using grinding poverty to create drama.’ This should not have been a concern; the acrylic portraits make for a striking, if at times, unsettling exhibition with their blend of the more traditional with the grotesque. ‘I’m interested in the way happiness and despair co-exist – if you look at a painting and you can’t decide whether the person is happy or sad, I think it works.’ It’s a wonderful exhibition and highly recommended for anyone with an interest in portraiture.
