Apo Avedissian (born 24 July 1990 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

) is an Iraqi-American artist of Armenian descent, often working in film-making, painting, photography, and writing. Avedissian’s writing portfolio most notably includes the autobiographical book “Thirteen in Baghdad,” detailing his life as a teenager in Baghdad during the 2003

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

Personal life

Avedissian started his path into the world of photography and his documentary style videography at the age of thirteen, at the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War. He was born to Armenian parents, both of whom were children/grandchildren of

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

survivors whose journey through the desert had ended in Iraq. He immigrated to the United States in 2005, and is fluent in Arabic, Armenian, and English - often using one or the other in his artwork.

Artwork

Over two dozen of Avedissian's paintings hang at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center) as part of 47 commissioned pieces completed by him for the venue, some of which were also made for the

Microsoft Theater The Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre L.A. Live) is a music and theater venue in downtown Los Angeles, California, at L.A. Live. The theater auditorium seats 7,100 and holds one of the largest indoor stages in the United States. History ...

. In 2020, a 5x5 ft canvas was also commissioned by

Professional Bull Riders The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization based in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. In the U.S., PBR events have been televised on CBS and CBS Sports Network since 2012. In 2013, the ...

for their Iron Cowboy show in Los Angeles that year. The drone-shot "Armenia & Artsakh - A Bird's Eye View," portions of which were used in

System of a Down System of a Down (also known as SoaD or simply System) is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. Since 1997, the band has consisted of Serj Tankian (lead vocals, keyboards); Daron Malakian (guitar, voc ...

's "Protect the Land" music video, and in

RT America RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&RProductions, it was a part of the RT (TV network), RT network, a global multilingual television news network base ...

's production "Forgotten Genocides", in addition to the previous short-film “Obsessive Possessive - An Experience,” have generated over ten million combined views. As of 2019, he has released 1-minute-long painting videos, also surpassing ten million combined views.

Influencers

Avedissian cites graffiti artist

Retna RETNA (born Marquis Lewis 1979) is a contemporary artist, primarily recognized for graffiti art. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and started his career in the early 1990s. He developed a distinctive constructed script which is d ...

and stencil artist

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the " Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker cam ...

as the two artists he follows closely the most.

Activism

Avedissian's teen years being spent in war and his grandparents' survival from the genocide put an immense load on his upbringing. Avedissian’s work often includes tributes and a push for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, including starting the Twitter #ArmenianGenocide campaign the week prior to April 24, 2011. Using his blog's popularity to reach bigger accounts, and trending it after the involvement of and assistance from popular accounts like Kim Kardashian’s, the hashtag has been trending yearly on the

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day ( hy, Մեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր ''Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or'') or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed ...

, since. Avedissian visited Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh in 2018, post the

2018 Armenian revolution The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin ( hy, ՄերժիրՍերժին, meaning "#RejectSerzh"), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and ...

, and documented his trip via drone footage, which are all featured in his "Armenia & Artsakh - A Bird's Eye View" short film. Some of the footage was also used in

's "Protect the Land" music video, which was released during the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian-occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, the surrounding territories. It was a major escalation of ...

with all proceeds sent as humanitarian aid for Armenians fleeing their homes. Released on April 23 of 2021, a day before the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, more of Avedissian's drone footage was used in

's "Forgotten Genocides".

References

External links

Apo Avedissian Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avedissian, Apo 1990 births Living people Iraqi people of Armenian descent American people of Armenian descent Iraqi emigrants to the United States