PEACE of ART at the Terjenian-Thomas Gallery, located on the 3rd floor of the Armenian Library and Museum of America

by Rosario Teixeira

PEACE of ART is a global traveling art exhibit of twenty-one paintings addressing issues of universal human concern. A preview of PEACE of ART sketches will be available for viewing effective September 22, 2003, at the Terjenian-Thomas Gallery, located on the 3rd floor of the Armenian Library and Museum of America, 65 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts.

We live in a world without peace, under constant threat of terrorism, biological and chemical warfare. The communion of art and peace establish a bridge leading to a better society, by promoting understanding and collaboration. It has been Daniel Varoujan Hejinian's dream to create a global traveling art exhibit to promote peace. At the local level, Varoujan has used his art to support many charitable organizations which provide vital services, such as Community Servings, Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer, Young at Arts Wang Center, Jocelyn Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Red Cross and others.

PEACE of ART series speak eloquently, as an inescapable mirror where we see ourselves and our society. The art work addresses sensitive issues around the globe. Blotches of hunger and homelessness, weapons of mass destruction, sickness, despair, repressed voices that have been silenced, others blinded and deafen trying to survive. Amidst it all, a mother protects a child holding a dove of peace, a battered woman breaks her silence, two people find solace in each other and the strength to make a difference. In Peace of Heart, he's in constant fear of losing his loved one, his hand shows the mark of cruxification as a permanent reminder of the September 11th terrorist attack, one side of his face leans toward the woman he hugs, the other is looking out in fear. In a split second we can loose a loved one. There is a white dove flying elsewhere...

The artist dedicated many nights and weekends in between his regular job as art director at Clear Channel Outdoor, and his daily obligations, to prepare this series of sketches. This impressive body of work will be available for display in the upcoming months. The "Red Bull" has fallen bringing the Cold War to an end, but the threat became so much more eminent. We no longer identify the enemy but the enemy can identify us. Sometimes the most eloquent of statements remain in the words left unspoken. The art work expresses all that is left unsaid.