Desire, Tunnel, and Wheelchair

On Friday, September 13 the Cincinnati Arts Association's Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts premiered three exhibitions to launch its eighth season: I Morti, a contemplative five-channel video installation by Cincinnati video artist, Charles Woodman; Desire, Tunnel & Wheelchair, a new series of provocative video installations by Gagik Aroutiunian (Chicago, IL); and Beauty and the Beholder, a group exhibition of Cincinnati artists curated by Emily Buddendeck, director of the alternative exhibition and performance venue SSNOVA, that examines the tantalizing subject of voyeurism.

Desire, Tunnel & Wheelchair encompasses a series of multimedia installations by Gagik Aroutiunian (former professor of art at Xavier University recently relocated to Chicago), that examines the transience of human life, the passage of time, the vulnerability of memory and the conditions of exile and alienation. Three distinct installations will be presented: Seeking, which consists of two video loops presented on opposing video monitors that examines the subject of desire and our sometimes awkward attempts to express it; Tunnel, a combination of two video projections that addresses the discrepancy between the physical/material and emotional/spiritual world; and Wheelchair Barbie, an evocative video projection and sculptural environment that speaks to our glorification of youth and fear of aging.

Gagik Aroutiunian, a native of Armenia, came to the United States in 1989 to attend Towson University in Baltimore, MD, where he earned an MFA in sculpture in 1991. In 1999, he moved to Cincinnati where he accepted a position as assistant professor of art at Xavier University. Prior to relocating to Chicago this summer to accept a teaching position at DePaul University, Aroutiunian was an active participant in the Cincinnati art community, participating in exhibitions at the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, KY, SSNOVA, and completing a major outdoor sculpture commission for Xavier University. He is currently represented by Gallery Juno in New York, NY, which has presented several solo exhibitions of his work from 1995 through 2002.