Vagrich (Vahrij) Hakobi (Akopovich) Bakhchanyan (russian: Ва́грич Ако́пович Бахчаня́н; uk, Ва́грiч Ако́пович Бахчаня́н; hy, Վահրիճ Հակոբի Բախչանյան; May 23, 1938 in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Soviet Ukraine The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

– November 12, 2009 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States) was a Ukrainian graphic artist and designer of Armenian heritage. He was a Soviet nonconformist and

Ukrainian underground Ukrainian underground was a movement in Ukraine's Soviet period from the late 1950s through the early 1990s. This art form was banned by several totalitarian countries of Eastern Europe and the USSR. It was also known under other names, such as uno ...

artist, and conceptual writer and poet working in the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

Biography

He was born to an ethnic

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

n family in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, where he grew up, studied and began painting. In the mid-1960s he moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where he worked at ''

Literaturnaya Gazeta ''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (russian: «Литературная Газета», ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and ...

''. In 1974 Bakhchanyan emigrated to United States, and lived in

, where he was active in the literary and art scene. There he collaborated with Russian and Soviet émigré writers

Sergei Dovlatov Sergei Donatovich Dovlatov (russian: link=no, Сергей Донатович Довлатов; 1941 1990) was a Soviet journalist and writer. Internationally, he is one of the most popular Russian writers of the late 20th century. Biography ...

Alexander Genis Alexander Genis (born February 11, 1953) is a Russian–American writer, broadcaster, and cultural critic. He has written more than a dozen books that are non-fiction bestsellers in Russia. Genis, an American citizen, resides in the New York Cit ...

, and Naum Sagalovsky, among others. He illustrated the last sixty-six journal covers of a leading democratic international Russian language magazine "Vremya i My", published by Viktor Perelman. He died on November 12, 2009 in New York City. According to Vagrich's last will, his ashes were scattered high in the

Geghama mountains Gegham mountains (or Gegham Ridge, ISO 9985: Geġam), hy, Գեղամա լեռնաշղթա (''Geghama lernasheghta'') are a range of mountains in Armenia. The range is a tableland-type watershed basin of Sevan Lake from east, inflows of rivers ...

(Armenia), over a stone covered with ancient petroglyphs.Vagrich and the Black Square
/ref> According to

, Bakhchanyan "possessed a keen sensitivity to the absurdities of the Soviet regime. By developing and experimenting with inventive artistic strategies, Bakhchanyan broadened the range of expressive possibilities for other nonconformist artists. Many of his puns became an intrinsic part of Soviet dissident culture."

Collections

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

, United States *National Centre for Contemporary Art,

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , American English, US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia. The city stands on t ...

*Museum of Actual Art ART4U,

*Tretiakov Gallery,

*Hermitage Museum,

St. Petersburg, Russia Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

*State Russian Museum,

*Yerevan Modern Art Museum,

Yerevan, Armenia Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

*Museum of National Arts of Ukraine,

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

* John Paul Getty Research Center and Museum,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States *

Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...

, Norton and Nancy Dodge collection,

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, New Brunswick,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, USA *Bar-Gera Collection,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany *Paul and Berty Quaedvlieg Collection, private collection,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

*Stella Art Foundation,

*Markin Collection,

Books

* 1981 — «Автобиография сорокалетнего автора» (''Autobiography of a Forty-Year-Old Author'') * 1981 — ''Visual diary: 1/1/80 — 12/31/80'' * 1985 — «Демарш энтузиастов» (''Démarche of Enthusiasts'', co-authored by

and Naum Sagalovsky) * 1986 — «Синьяк под глазом: пуантель-авивская поэма» (''Signac under the Eye: Pointillaviv Poem'') * 1986 — «Ни дня без строчки (годовой отчет)» (''Nulla dies sine linea, Year's End Report'') * 1986 — «Стихи разных лет» (''Poems from Various Years'') * 2003 — «Мух уйма: художества». (''Eddy of Flies: Artricks'',

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

: У-Фактория (U-faktoria), 2003. * 2006 - «Мух уйма (Художества). (''Eddy of Flies: Artricks. Not by bread alone. (Menu-Collage)'', foreword by A. Genis.

: У-Фактория (U-faktoria), 2006, 512 pages. * 2005 — «"Вишневый ад" и другие пьесы» (''Cherry Hell and other Plays''), NLO, Moscow * 2010 — «Сочинения Вагрича Бахчаняна» (''Essays by Vagrich Bakhchanyan''), Publ. by G. Titov, Vologda, Russia * 2011 — «Записные книжки Вагрича Бахчаняна» (From Notebooks of Vagrich Bakhchanyan), NLO, Moscow

References

External links

Biography

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081025115427/http://www.unlv.edu/centers/cdclv/archives/Artists/Bakhchanyan.html Vagrich Bakhchanyan {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakhchanyan, Vagrich 1938 births 2009 deaths Ethnic Armenian painters Conceptual artists Ukrainian artists Soviet Armenians Soviet caricaturists Soviet emigrants to the United States Soviet painters 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters 20th-century Russian male artists