Page 84 - World of Art Contemporary Art magazine: The 2023 Guggenheim issue

MONK BY THE SEA, STUDY AFTER CASPAR DAVID FRIDRICH (DIV013), NOVEMBER, 2016 OIL ON
CANVAS, 36X36X2 IN. 91.4X91.4X5 CM.
FINE ART CULTURE FALL LANDSCAPE WITH TWO TREES (DIV 036), 2018 OIL ON CANVAS 30X40X1 IN. | 76.2X102X2.5 CM.
WOMAN 4, WITH LANTERN (DIV 021), 2015 OIL ON CANVAS 48X30X1.5 IN. | 122X76X3.8 CM.

ATOM HOVHANESYAN
Worked and lived in New York, United States of America
https://artbyatom.com | Instagram:@artbyatomhov. Art by Atom: Artist of exceptional qualities

Atom Hovhanesyan was a self-taught artist that worked and
lived in New York. He was born in Armenia on August 19,
1981. At three weeks, he and his mother traveled to Algeria,
to join his father who was a Professor in Ain Taya, near the
capital, Algiers. He grew into a healthy and happy toddler,
in an idyllic middle-class community on the Mediterranean
Sea, surrounded by his parents and sister, in a community
of Soviet specialist on official assignment in Algeria. Early in
Atom’s formative years, it quickly became apparent that he
was an extremely serious, sensitive, and inquisitive child. He
displayed extraordinary compassion towards his classmates
and peers and often attracted the attention of other parents
due to the compassion and kindness he showed to everyone.
In 1983, Atom and his family returned to Armenia, where he
completed his primary and secondary education. Atom’s
childhood followed a normal course: he loved soccer and
tennis and excelled in his studies of literature, geography,
history, and biology. It was during this time that his interest
in drawing developed. It was a period of extreme optimism
and stability for the family. Unfortunately, this optimism in
Armenia was eclipsed by a devastating natural disaster, war,

the collapse of the Soviet Union and economic instability. In
1997, just as Atom graduated from high school at age 16,
his family received final Embassy approval for immigration
to the United States. That same year Atom enrolled at New
York University to study English and began a part time job at
a national restaurant chain. In 1998, Atom applied and was
accepted at St. John’s University where he studied Economics
while continuing to work in the restaurant industry where he

82 WORLD of ART