Aram Jughian

Aram Jughian is a prize-winning Lebanese-Armenian artist and poet who was born in 1959. Self-taught, he is known for creating expressive and emotive works in which motifs swirl and sweep fluidly across large-scale canvases, layered and overlapping in varied textures that range from thickened to diluted paints in a medley of vibrant colours.

Rooted in abstraction, his mixed media artworks are also inspired by music with influences ranging from Bach and the impressionist masters of Ravel and Debussy to jazz, blues and rock. In addition, Jughian looks inward when creating his art, bringing his own personal experiences into his work, which he has aptly described as “The fruit of nature”.

This definition also hints at the subjects that Jughian chooses for his paintings, which often highlight nature’s wonders. Compositions range from a flock of birds in flight and ruby red roses floating on water to a gentle summer breeze, depicted in soft pinks and an approaching storm, brought to life through a palette of shifting blues that span the innocuous to the ominous. Jughian’s work also includes portraits and deeply personal, thought-provoking untitled abstract works.

Jughian’s work has been exhibited extensively for more than four decades in both solo shows and collectives, mostly in Lebanon and Russia. Recent events include solo exhibitions at Galerie Tanit, Beirut, namely: ‘Fireworks’ (2022); ‘Here’ (2017); and ‘Brushstrokes’ (2011). His art also featured in a show at the Sursock Museum, Beirut, titled ‘I Am’, in 2006.

In addition, his work has been permanently displayed at Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, displayed in solo shows there in 2005, 2002, 1997 and 1996. Other venues in Lebanon having shown his work include the Kulturzentrum (1992) and the Russian Cultural Center (1990). Exhibitions abroad include a show at the M'ars Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow (2001). 

In addition, Aram Jughian has taken part in several group exhibitions, including: ‘Vous avez dit abstrait?’ Galerie Tanit (2013); Sharjah Biennial (1997); Sanayeh Garden Project, Sanayeh Garden, Beirut (1995); and ‘Abstract Painting in Lebanese Art’, Lebanese American University, Beirut (1995).

Jughian won the Sursock Prize in 1993 and, in the same year, was commissioned by the Ministry of Public Works in Lebanon to create a 14-metre-long mural. His paintings can be found in prestigious public and private collections internationally, in Beirut, at the Sursock Museum, Paris, Cologne, Rotterdam, Leiden, London, Washington, Los Angeles and Jakarta.

In 1995, he took part in the launch gathering of the Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, founded by curator Christine Tohmé as a key post-civil war movement. Jughian remains active within the Lebanese contemporary art community and exhibits regularly at Galerie Tanit in Beirut.