About
With his innovative use of fire and burn marks, Jean Boghossian creates abstract artworks that exude a dynamic sense of movement, evoking a powerful sense of transformation and regeneration that resonates with viewers on a visceral level.
Art is a testament to the passage of time and a witness to history.
Born in Aleppo in 1949, Boghossian stems from a family of jewelers for whom he worked while studying Economics and Sociology at University of Saint-Joseph in Beirut. In 1975, the Lebanese Civil War forced Boghossian to leave the country and settle in Belgium. Over three decades ago, Boghossian decided to enroll in the Academy of Fine Arts in Boitsfort, Brussels, while continuing to oversee the family business. In 1992, together with his brother and father he created the Boghossian Foundation at the Villa Empain in Brussels. Jean Boghossian and his family have also worked and lived, in human relationships marked by a cosmopolitan identity and citizen of the world.
Based on his own experience of a whole range of historical events, cultural ebbs and flows and poetic narratives and dreams that encompass the world from East to West, Boghossian presents in his artwork a new idea that in the twenty-first century will come to life in the mishmash of today’s societal differences to forge a new and more just form of humanism.
For about more the 30 years now, Jean Boghossian has wanted to invest more in art on a personal basis: “I wanted to free myself from the jewellery business, to pursue a totally free artistic approach. It’s fantastic, it gives me extraordinary energy. When I’m facing a two-by-two meters canvas, it’s above all a space for creation, a refuge and a passion. It’s also a bit physical” .
It is through the process of willful damage with an invasive and rather violent method (fire), that Boghossian continuously searches for harmony. Conscious that one will never completely tame the chaotic move of flames and smoke, he enters the fire dance and moves along with the blaze until he chooses to stop the process. This is where he feels the right balance has been reached.
If Jean Boghossian is obviously not the only artist to have recourse to or to express himself with the action of fire – Claudio Parmiggiani and Yves Klein come to mind here – his works clearly explores new paths. In addition to the random results due to the use of smoke, the artist first intervenes on the support itself, the canvas, by practicing several methods and combining several techniques: folding, stapling, covering, burning, unfolding, correcting, redeploying, to finally end up with the tension on the frame of the canvas handled and treated in this specific way.
Boghossian’s artistic process is fueled by the flame and characterized by a simultaneous destructive and constructive synthesis. This dual tension is similar to the approach of other influential artists such as Burri, Fontana, Pollock, Klein, and Kounellis. Boghossian’s artwork is a response that is seeking a question to address. He is particularly interested in a new definition of art that emphasizes a self-aware creative process.
Solo & group exhibitions
Jean Boghossian has participated in recent Solo and Group Exhibitions:
2023
- The Sea is Green | SBM | 10 March – 10 May
- Jean Boghossian | Opera Gallery | Monaco | 17 March – 9 April
- Sculptura Festival #1 | Sculptura Gallery | Gare Maritime – Brussels, Belgium | 10 February – 12 March
2022
- Bentley Art Car Course | Brussels, Belgium
- Dialogue | The Matenadaran | Yerevan, Armenia
- Antinomia Ardente | Gallerie Il Ponte | Italy
- Melencolia Contemporanea | Compagnia della Vela | Venice, Italy
- Mazarine Variations | Paris, France
2021
- Bozar | Art on Paper | Brussels, Belgium
- Boon Gallery | Knokke, Belgium
- Anima Gallery | online exhibition | International
- Jean Boghossian | Wilford X | Temse, Belgium
- Recent works | Avenue Louise | Brussels, Belgium
2020
- Jean Boghossian | Wilford X | Temse, Belgium
- BRAFA Art Fair | Boon Gallery | Brussels, Belgium
- Feuerspuren – part of the artistic project Sichtweisen | Burgkirche – Friedberg, Germany
2019
- Flamme intérieure | Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Arts, Korea| 2019 – 2020
- Museum und Park Kalkriese Germany | 2019 – 2020
- Cessez le feu! | United Nations Office, Geneva
- About Nature and Colours | Galerie Tanit | Munich, Germany
- Ekphrasis | Villa Empain | Brussels, Belgium
2018
- Rythmes & Matières | Galerie Valérie Bach, Brussels
- Rhapsody in Red and Blue | Galerie Pièce Unique, Paris
- Jean Boghossian | Cardi Gallery, London
- Flamme intérieure | Museum Ground | Republic of Korea
- Building with Fire | L’Orient Le Jour building Beirut | Lebanon
- Fiamma Inestinguibile II |The National Gallery of Armenia | Yerevan, Armenia
- Frieze New York | Cardi Gallery | New York, United States of America
- Art Monte-Carlo | Cardi Gallery | Monaco
- Unpredictable Horizons | Ayyam Gallery | Dubai, United Arab Emirates
2017
- Armenian Center of Contemporary Experimental Art, Yerevan | 2017 & 2007
- Fiamma Inestinguibile | 57th Venice Biennale – Armenian National Pavilion – Palazzo Zenobio | Venice, Italy
- Traces Sensibles | Musée d’Ixelles | Brussels, Belgium
2015
- Au rendez-vous des amis | Palazzo Vitelli | Città di Castello, Italy
- Sonore Visiva |Museo Archeologico di Atina e della Valle di Comino | Atina, Italy
- Tra due Fuochi | Beirut Exhibition Center | Beirut, Lebanon | 2015 & 2011
2014
- Secrète Architecture | Black Box Bis Gallery |Brussels, Belgium
2013
- Abu Dhabi Art | Agial Art Gallery | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2012
- Vers la lumière | Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art | Republic of Korea
- Galerie Guy Ledune | Brussels, Belgium |2012 – 2010 – 2009 – 2008 – 2007
Artworks
