Rafael Megall

Rafael Megall (Rafael Melikyan, Yerevan, 1983). Megall’s works revolve around the representation of nature, stylized and interpreted as a decorative element. His main subjects are panthers, tigers and jaguars, but also shattered porcelain, cartoon characters, iconic figures, and monstrous, hybrid creatures, often set against a phytomorphic background. His flat, stylized representations of nature in vivid, full, electric colors, are closer to a digital image than a real one. The absence of perspective and depth, the dense geometry of the graphic elements and their repetition and intertwining generate a horror vacui that recalls Armenian miniatures and the bas-reliefs that adorn places of worship and palaces. To create his paintings Megall uses oils and digitally processed stencils. Many of the elements in his works have a symbolic, religious value. In 2017 he represented the Republic of Armenia at the 57th Venice Biennale. He has held solo shows at the National Gallery of Armenia in Yerevan, and the MoCA in Moscow. He took part the exhibition Le Nuove Frontiere della Pittura at the Stelline Foundation (Milan, 2018).