Hrag Vartanian (
Armenian: Հրակ Վարդանեան) (born 1973 or 1974)[1] is an Armenian-American arts writer,[1]art critic,[2] and
art curator.[3] He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the arts online magazine Hyperallergic.
Life and work
Vartanian was born in
Aleppo,
Syria,[4] raised in
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, and lives in
Brooklyn, New York. His
blog-
magazineHyperallergic was founded by Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009 [5] as a "forum for serious, playful and radical thinking".[6] Vartanian has contributed to numerous online and print publications including the
Art:21 blog,[7] Boldtype,
The Brooklyn Rail,[8]Huffington Post,[9]AGBU News Magazine, Ararat Magazine,[10] and NYFA Current.[11] He has guest contributed to
Al Jazeera,[12]NPR,[13] ABC,[14] and
WNYC.[15][16][17] He was formerly Director of Communications at
AGBU, the world's largest Armenian non-profit organization. Vartanian was a staunch supporter of the controversial Hide/Seek exhibit which was censored by the
Smithsonian.[18]
Curation
Vartanian has curated numerous exhibitions since the late 1990s. His most recent curatorial project was "Fixed Point Perspective: Ottoman Studio Photography and its Contemporary Legacy" at Minerva Projects in Denver, Colorado.[19] The work in the show was a mix of contemporary and historical, and featured artists
Gariné Torossian and Hrair Sarkissian, among others.[20]
Writings
"Do Bush's Paintings Tell Us Anything About the Former President?" (February 2013)[21]
"An Experiment in Street Art Criticism" (March 2010)[22]
"Is Contemporary Architecture a PR Panacea for Autocrats? Western Architectural Ethics & Undemocratic Nations" in Brooklyn Rail (September 2008)[23]
"The Very Public Life of Street Art" in Brooklyn Rail (May 2008)[24]
"Peter Sourian" from "Forgotten Bread: First Generation Armenian-American Writers" edited by
David Kherdian (Berkeley, CA: Heyday books, 2007)[25]
"An Imaginary Armenian Canadian Homeland:
Gariné Torossian's Dialogue with Egoyan" from Image and Territory: Essays on
Atom Egoyan edited by Monique Tschofen and Jennifer Burwell (Waterloo, ON: Wildred Laurier University Press, 2006).[26]
Bushwick Open Studios featuring artists: Andrew Ohanesian, Tescia Seufferlein,
Andrew Cornell Robinson, Richard Martinez.
"Schwierige Wahrheiten: Die Schriftstellerin
Nancy Kricorian (The Will to Resist: A Portrait of
Nancy Kricorian)," in Porträt einer Hoffnung Die Armenier edited by Huberta von Voss (Verlag Hans Schiller, 2004). English edition[27]
"New York Life Recognizes Genocide Era Insurance Claims," AGBU Magazine (April 2004).[28]
"Nazi Style Wars," The Brooklyn Rail (October 2003).[29]
"Curating on the Margins," The Brooklyn Rail (Winter 2003).[30]
FutureHype/Kitabet, edited by Carmen Donabedian & Hrag Vartanian (Beirut:
Haigazian University, 1998).
"Chine Drive: An Arts & Crafts Community," in The Stuff Dreams are Made of: The Art and Design of Frederick and Louise Coates (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1997).
Hrag Vartanian (
Armenian: Հրակ Վարդանեան) (born 1973 or 1974)[1] is an Armenian-American arts writer,[1]art critic,[2] and
art curator.[3] He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the arts online magazine Hyperallergic.
Life and work
Vartanian was born in
Aleppo,
Syria,[4] raised in
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, and lives in
Brooklyn, New York. His
blog-
magazineHyperallergic was founded by Vartanian and his husband Veken Gueyikian in October 2009 [5] as a "forum for serious, playful and radical thinking".[6] Vartanian has contributed to numerous online and print publications including the
Art:21 blog,[7] Boldtype,
The Brooklyn Rail,[8]Huffington Post,[9]AGBU News Magazine, Ararat Magazine,[10] and NYFA Current.[11] He has guest contributed to
Al Jazeera,[12]NPR,[13] ABC,[14] and
WNYC.[15][16][17] He was formerly Director of Communications at
AGBU, the world's largest Armenian non-profit organization. Vartanian was a staunch supporter of the controversial Hide/Seek exhibit which was censored by the
Smithsonian.[18]
Curation
Vartanian has curated numerous exhibitions since the late 1990s. His most recent curatorial project was "Fixed Point Perspective: Ottoman Studio Photography and its Contemporary Legacy" at Minerva Projects in Denver, Colorado.[19] The work in the show was a mix of contemporary and historical, and featured artists
Gariné Torossian and Hrair Sarkissian, among others.[20]
Writings
"Do Bush's Paintings Tell Us Anything About the Former President?" (February 2013)[21]
"An Experiment in Street Art Criticism" (March 2010)[22]
"Is Contemporary Architecture a PR Panacea for Autocrats? Western Architectural Ethics & Undemocratic Nations" in Brooklyn Rail (September 2008)[23]
"The Very Public Life of Street Art" in Brooklyn Rail (May 2008)[24]
"Peter Sourian" from "Forgotten Bread: First Generation Armenian-American Writers" edited by
David Kherdian (Berkeley, CA: Heyday books, 2007)[25]
"An Imaginary Armenian Canadian Homeland:
Gariné Torossian's Dialogue with Egoyan" from Image and Territory: Essays on
Atom Egoyan edited by Monique Tschofen and Jennifer Burwell (Waterloo, ON: Wildred Laurier University Press, 2006).[26]
Bushwick Open Studios featuring artists: Andrew Ohanesian, Tescia Seufferlein,
Andrew Cornell Robinson, Richard Martinez.
"Schwierige Wahrheiten: Die Schriftstellerin
Nancy Kricorian (The Will to Resist: A Portrait of
Nancy Kricorian)," in Porträt einer Hoffnung Die Armenier edited by Huberta von Voss (Verlag Hans Schiller, 2004). English edition[27]
"New York Life Recognizes Genocide Era Insurance Claims," AGBU Magazine (April 2004).[28]
"Nazi Style Wars," The Brooklyn Rail (October 2003).[29]
"Curating on the Margins," The Brooklyn Rail (Winter 2003).[30]
FutureHype/Kitabet, edited by Carmen Donabedian & Hrag Vartanian (Beirut:
Haigazian University, 1998).
"Chine Drive: An Arts & Crafts Community," in The Stuff Dreams are Made of: The Art and Design of Frederick and Louise Coates (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1997).