TOUCH by Armen Agop

Untitled (98), 2007
Black Granite, 38.5 x 35 x 25.5 cm

Armen Agop’s sculptures repose in a secretly precarious stillness. These seemingly anchored forms consent to movement when pressed to it by our hands. Later, theyinexorably to their original position. As a result of their curved shapes, these black granite metronomes gradually slow and stop in a subtle dialogue between light and shade. A dance, sometimes giddy, unfolds on the sleek surface of these sculptures. A curious weightlessness transfigures the stone.

Victor Hugo Riego

Untitled 108, 2014
Black Granite, 81 x 22 x 20 cm

Armen Agop suggests a different approach to art, one that goes beyond simply observing to also include physical contact. He encourages a more intimate and physical relationship with his installations, which enriches our experience. Armen Agop’s body of work in black granite also introduces us to a part of nature that was once part of a mountain and is now sharing our space with us. It is a meeting between human nature and nature. By pushing us beyond the traditional dialogue we have with art he removes its sacredness and thereby dissolves the distance there is between us and the artworks, and also between us and nature.
These sober sculptures interact with us. At first glance they may seem reserved, stoic even, but these simple forms in black granite are just waiting to be touched to come to life.
“My body of work has one general concept: freedom. My sculptures are not pinned in a base. In fact, they rock or spin from the slightest touch. The freedom is given both to the piece and also to the observer, who is free to touch it.”
Armen Agop