Artist Biography  l  Armen Kojoyian

Armen Kojoyian is an American artist, born in 1953 in Washington, DC. From his early years growing up in the suburbs of Boston, Armen has always been dedicated to producing art and design. As a teenager, he learned to paint from Paul Rahilly at the venerated Fenway Studios of Boston built in 1905 a historic location for early Boston artists.

A special moment from his high school days he recalls was his chance meeting of one of America's greatest satirical, political, and expressionist artists, the famous  Jack Levine. Playing high school football with two of Levine's nephews resulted in meeting Levine and become inspired by his encouragement to pursue art further.

Armen's studies as a BFA painting major at University of Rhode Island exposed

him to the biomorphic forms in the work of painting professor Susan Heideman.

He created 3D works with renown professor Richard Calabro. Armen recalls Calabro exposed 3D  students to his personal artist friends, Italo Scanga and

Dale Chihuly that both were faculty members at RISD in the 1970's bringing those characters to the University of Rhode Island Fine Art Department as guest speakers, advisors, and gave them solo show installations of their work long before they achieved world-wide acclaim. The cross pollination in the 1970's of professors from the Rhode Island School of Design with the University of Rhode Island had

a lasting impact on Armen's journey.

After under-grad school Armen redirected his educational career towards graphic design and illustration in the Visual Design MFA program at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, MA, where he studied under adjunct professor Hans Van Dyck in the graduate program. Once again Armen was exposed to another great RISD influence in Van Dyck who became head of the RISD Design program.

Armen thrived in the publishing field for four decades as Designer/Art Director at McGraw Hill Companies, Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, and several other publishing firms across America where he garnered several industry awards for his graphic design and illustration work.

Armen in recent years renewed his dialogue with the abstract art-making process in classes at the Art Students League of New York with Larry Poons and the late George Cannata. Armen’s work subsequently surged in an expression of liberating organic abstraction by hanging around the hallowed halls of the Art Students League in New York City.

Today Armen explores daily in his NYC studio his unique investigations into Organic Abstraction and reflecting on being more original in the art making pursuit.

EXHIBITIONS

2022

"Fantasies of Urartu" at Gallery 77, Queens, NY, solo-show

2019

"LICA @ Atlantic 2019" at Atlantic Gallery, NYC, group-show

2017

"Art in Fall" at Hovnanian School, New Milford, NJ, group-show

2015

"Spectrum Miami" Miami Art Week, Art Basel, group-show

2015

"Art Expo 2015" at Pier 94, NYC, group-show

2009

 "Ambient Relics" at Gallery 77, Queens, NY, solo-show

2004

AIGA sponsored San Diego Illustrators, private works group-show

2002

"Out of Order" at Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD, group-show

2002

Tatiana LTD Gallery, Glenelg, MD, solo-show

1985

Mussavi Art Gallery. NYC, group-show

AWARDS

1996

Award of Merit, Manhattan Arts International Fifth Annual competition

ART COMMISSIONS

1990

Prototype Design, Providence, RI

1989

Instrumentation Laboratories (An Allied Company), Lexington, MA

1980

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston, MA

GUEST SPEAKER

1996

Pratt Institute or Art, Brooklyn, NY

1988,1992 - Parsons School of Design, New York, NY

INSTRUCTOR

1983

Butera School of Art, Boston, MA

EDUCATION

1977

University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA

Master of Fine Arts

1975

University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI

Bachelor of FIne Arts