Background
Vartanov was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, on October 29, 1941. Since childhood, Vigen Vartanov was fond of cinema. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a cinematographer.
Vartanov was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, on October 29, 1941. Since childhood, Vigen Vartanov was fond of cinema. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a cinematographer.
Vartanov started to work at the film studio Georgia-Film as an artist-photographer in 1967. During his thirty-year career at the film studio, he participated in the making of about fourteen films of prominent Georgian directors. Initially, he didn't have a photo camera or a laboratory of his own. He borrowed it from the studio. However, his artistic and complex black and white photographs did not fit into the aesthetic requirements of those years. So, Vigen Vartanov never published or publicly presented his photographic works.
His unending walks with a camera around the city led to his strong interest in the history of Tbilisi. The old photographs, documents as well as everyday objects became an important part of his life. This was subsequently reflected in many of his collages and assemblages. The technique of collage was not something new to Vigen. He practiced this technique in photography, combining two or three negatives to obtain the desired image. Between 1978 and 1980, Vigen Vartanov created over 50 collages, including those for S.I. Parajanov's movie The Confession.
In the early 1970s, the artist came upon a catalogue of works by an American artist Joseph Cornell. Cornell's "boxes" inspired Vigen to cease photography and start looking for new ways of self-expression in collages. From 1975 till 2015, Vigen Vartanov produced more than 150 assemblages.
He used a variety of materials and items that he mostly found on the streets. Rusted sheets of tin and construction mesh, old suitcases, forged nails, gears of watches, charred musical instruments, were used to create his artworks. They were not a simple set of individual objects. All these objects were connected by one common idea.
Vigen Vartanov always refused to exhibit, using an excuse: "Not yet, some time later... ". However, during the artist's life, his "later" never happened.
