Ara Shiraz

Ara Shiraz was born Aramazd Karapetyan (Armenian: Արամազդ Կարապետյան) in Yerevan in 1941. He graduated from the Yerevan Theatre and Fine Arts Institute in 1966. He participated in numerous young artists exhibitions in Armenia and the Soviet Union. From 1968 until his death in 2014 he was a member of the Artists' Union of Armenia. His works have been exhibited in major cities of the U.S.S.R. (Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi) as part of solo and group shows. He has taken part in the Festival of Armenian Art "From Urartu to the Present" (Paris, 1970).

Shiraz is characterized by his monumental sculptural works of art.

In 1979 Shiraz was awarded the State Award of Armenia for his ornamental sculptures decorating the facade of the Dvin Hotel in Yerevan. In 1977 he was granted the title of Meritorious Artist of Armenia. In 1987 he was elected the president of the Artists' Union of Armenia, and a member of the Secretariat of the Artists' Union of the U.S.S.R.

In 2017, his works were displayed at the National Gallery of Armenia in the "Ara Shiraz: Retrospective" exhibition.[1]

Statue of Hovhannes Shiraz in the Malatia-Sebastia district of Yerevan.

Statue of Andranik (2002) near Saint Gregory Cathedral.

Shiraz' most renowned works include the busts of Pablo Picasso, Yervand Kochar, Hovhannes Shiraz and Vruir Galstian. Many of his sculptural compositions are on permanent exhibit in the Modern Art Museum of Armenia, the State Gallery of Armenia, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Eastern Nations Museum of Art in Moscow.

Shiraz's paintings and sculptures are found in many private collections throughout the world: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Beirut, Paris, London, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Montreal.

His works include:

• Yeghishe Charents, Charentsavan (1977)[2]
• Paruyr Sevak, Yerevan (1978)[2]
• Aleksandr Miasnikian, Yerevan (1980)[2]
• William Saroyan, Komitas Pantheon, Yerevan (1984)[2]
• Tigran Petrosian, Chess House, Yerevan (1989)
• Hovhannes Shiraz, Komitas Pantheon (1989)
• Sergei Parajanov, Komitas Pantheon (1999)
• Andranik, Saint Gregory the Illumminator Cathedral (2002)
• Hovhannes Shiraz, Malatia-Sebastia District, Yerevan (2005)[3]
• Vazgen I, Vaskenian Theological Academy, Sevan (2008)[4]

• Meritorious Artist of Armenia (1977)
• State Prize of Armenia (1979)
• RA President Award (2008)
• People’s Artist of Armenia (2009)

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