WATERTOWN — “The Art of Disruption: The Art and Impact of Serj Tankian” opened at the Armenian Museum of America on September 6 with the participation of a lively crowd of more than 150 members, museum trustees and fans of this hugely talented artist, musician and activist.
The evening included a panel discussion with Ryann Casey, Assistant Curator Amanda Cantillon, and Executive Director Jason Sohigian as well as an impromptu performance by classical guitarist Raffi Donoian. (Tankian was forced to miss the event because of a flight delay.)
This immersive exhibition highlights the intersections of music, painting, and protest that define Tankian. Best known as the frontman of the Grammy Award-winning rock band System Of A Down, Tankian has emerged as a powerful visual artist and outspoken advocate for social justice, genocide recognition, environmental protection.
Speaking at the panel, Casey expressed her thoughts on the exhibition and the artist: “What I hope you experience with this show is that this is as much about visual art as it is about music, as it is about poetry, and about Serj as a person. One of the things that I really respect about him is that everything he feels and everything that he believes in, especially in terms of his activism, is built into his visual arts and into his music.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a video of the artist streaming in the museum’s Rose and Gregory Archie Kolligian Media Room. All of the works in the show are available for purchase, with proceeds of the sales benefitting the mission of the Armenian Museum of America. Several of the pieces were sold at the opening event.
All of the works are accompanied by music scores created by Tankian. Arloopa created an app in Armenia, which uses augmented reality to recognize each piece using a smartphone.
