2021 Faculty Art Exhibition - Hagop Najarian

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HAGOP NAJARIAN


Abstract Dancing Figures
Bring Light, 2021

Oil on Canvas
72 x 60 inches

Father and Son Against Abstract Patterns
Factory Najar 1969-2019, 2019

Oil and Wax on Canvas
72 x 60 inches

Abstract Painting
Date Night, 2019

Acrylic on Canvas
72 x 60 inches



Home Turf is a series of paintings that reunites my history of figuration with my previous series of abstract paintings. The intersection of these two genres culminates in the synthesis of color, sound, gesture and memory. As an ongoing record of my visual DNA, these paintings ignite both the audible and visual senses within my creative process as a painter and musician. The imagery in the paintings summons the emotive powers of memory, euphoria and nostalgia, providing a dialogue for the viewer and their own senses of color, gesture and joy. We are all a culmination of our own life experiences as we reflect on our Home Turf.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Hagop Najarian and his family immigrated to the United States in 1969. As an Armenian living in La Mirada, he drew strength from the strong ties and grounding that his family and close community provided. Watching his father and grandfather create elaborate wood furniture with simple tools was the foundation and driving force in Hagop as an artist. Pursuing his undergraduate studies in art at Fullerton College and receiving his BFA in drawing and painting at Cal State Univ. Long Beach provided a traditional technical foundation. In 1993 he began his graduate study at Tyler School of Art at Temple University through their prestigious study abroad program in Rome, Italy and Philadelphia campus. Hagop Najarian is a working artist and college professor living in La Mirada, California. He has been a Professor of Art teaching in Drawing and Painting at Cerritos College since 1999. His Tenure at Cerritos College includes serving as Department Chair, Faculty Senate, Club Advisor and numerous administrative committees. In addition to exhibiting his work locally and nationally, Hagop has curated group exhibitions, and lectures about his work at seminars, panel discussions and colleges in the Los Angeles area. He is a co-founding member of Museum Adjacent and a member of Durden and Ray and High Beams, which are locally run artists collectives that have developed many exhibitions throughout Los Angeles, nationally and Internationally.

Hagop Najarian began teaching at Cerritos College in 1999, including ART110 (Freehand Drawing), ART112 (Life Drawing), ART130A/130B (Fundamentals of Painting), ART136 (Painting for Majors), ART231 (Intermediate Painting), and ART122 (Color Theory).