Raffi Kalenderian Represented by Miles McEnery Gallery

NEW YORK – MILES McENERY GALLERY is pleased to announce its representation of Raffi Kalenderian. 

Raffi Kalenderian is a figurative painter based in Los Angeles, CA. Primarily known for portraiture, Kalenderian paints compelling portraits whose dynamic backgrounds merit as much attention as their subjects. Explosions of color and pattern in the form of carpets, wall coverings, and tapestries surround his sitters, whose facial expressions and bodily comportments offer an intimate look into their unique personalities. Working both from photographs and from life, Kalenderian discovers opportunities for distortion and abstraction. 

Kalenderian considers himself what he terms a “messy artist,” and the chaotic background of his studio is fundamental to his process. He elaborates, “It’s like the whole studio is an extension of my brain, and my work is always at its best when the wildness of the studio informs what happens on the canvas.” 

RAFFI KALENDERIAN (b. 1981 in Los Angeles, CA) received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004. He also completed his artist residency at Idyllwild Arts Academy, Idyllwild, CA in 2004, and his artist residency at St. Barthélemy, French West Indies in 2007. 

Recent solo exhibitions include “Memento Vivo,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA; “Always in Rare Form, ” Buchmann Galerie, Berlin, Germany; “Portraits, ” Peter Kilchmann, Zürich, Switzerland; “For the Dead,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Project, Culver City, CA; “Green River,” Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy; “ To Walk Through the Night, ” Peter Kilchmann, Zürich, Switzerland; “Raffi Kalenderian, ” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA; “Raffi Kalenderian,” Buchmann Galerie, Berlin, Germany; “Interior Life,” Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich, Switzerland; “Currents, Undercurrents, and Manoeuvers,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA; “Raffi Kalenderian, ” Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy; “Memoranda, ” Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich, Switzerland; “Satellites,” Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zürich, Switzerland; “Palimpsest: Selected Works on Paper,” Marc Jancou Fine Art, New York, NY; “ Wicked Waters,” Medium, St. Barthélemy, French West Indies; “Born Under Punches,” Black Dragon Society, Los Angeles, CA. 

Recent group exhibitions include “Genius Loci,” Setareh Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany; “To our Fellow Artists and Poets who are Confused About Which Way to Go,” Lundgren Gallery, Palma de Mallorca, Spain; “Hotel Kalifornia, ” Galerie Lefebvre & Fils, Paris, France; “ Whats Up New York, ” LVH Art, New York, N Y; “Painter’s Painters,” Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom; “A Verdant Summer, ” Taymour Grahne, New York, N Y; “Imagine, ” Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy; “Body Language, ” Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom; “Goldmine, ” (curated by Christopher Scoates), University Art Museum, Long Beach, CA; “Crystal World,” Buchmann Galerie, Berlin, Germany; “Die Nase des Michelangelo,” Galerie Peter Kilchmann at Marktgasse, Zürich, Switzerland; “Painting,” (curated by Roger Herman), L A Art House, Los Angeles, CA; “Portraits de Collectionneurs, ” Muro Gallery, Chatelaine, Switzerland; “Next Generation, ” Kunstmuseum St Gallen, St Gallen, Switzerland; “L.A. Potential: Hang Art 7, ” (curated by Lioba Reddeker), Salzburg, Austria; “Faces and Figures (Revisited),” Marc Jancou Contemporary, New York, NY; “Stories: Portraits, ” Eleven Rivington, New York, N Y; “Some Paintings: The Third (2007), ” LA Weekly Annual Biennal, Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; “Cali in CPH, Part ii: Bucket of Ice, ” Co-Lab, Copenhagen, Denmark; “ Warhol &, ” Kantor/Feuer Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Black Dragon Society, Los Angeles, CA; “Boat Show, ” High Energy Constructs, Los Angeles, CA; “Just My Funny Way of Laughing,” South La Brea Gallery, Inglewood, CA. 

His work may be found in the permanent collections of Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Los Angeles County Musuem of Art, Los Angeles, CA; University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, CA; and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN. 

Raffi Kalenderian lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.