Solo Exhibition "Academia Gallery" 26 October, 2004 Yerevan, Armenia

Real art from the era of cave drawing never tried to give a definition that would expose this idea.
Zara Manucharyan is among those painters who never move ahead under the cover of theories, motivate her art (graphic, etching, painting) exactly the way Faith, Hope, Love can ' t be motivated.
Simply, Zara is endowed with a passion to see nature in art, a super quality which provides a painter with two horizons, two paths leading to the world of reality and imagination.
Let ' s first of all understand - her art can ' t be taken as the art of a young painter - this is young art based firmly on deeply felt realism on the one hand and on the pillars of avant-garde art on the other, but full of freshness and inner power; still shrouded in mystery which is inherent in ancient mysteries and clairvoyance.
She is not the hero of her pictures, not the central figure, she is the carrier of the ” super ” idea which is decoded with peculiar ideograms.
Thus, she is not her “angel with closed eyes”, but the one who observes “ ghost in pomegranate”. Here are the names of some of her graphic works – ‘'Blessing”, “ Dream in the boat “, “ Gift”, “Escape”, “Kiss”… These can be called so conditionally as they have the mission to carry concepts. These works are the witness of her early mature skill, of her ability to present concepts mystically, with the help of cryptograms.

Then comes the time of burst. This is the time of a marvelous transition from true graphic works to true paintings. We must perceive the mystery of this quick and noiseless transition, perceive the inner mood before stepping into the world of her newly-born paintings. In this pure artistic world you hear strange silence… This is a talking silence of lines, tints, characters expressed in the language full of contradictions. This is the sign of inner noise, confronting movements in different directions and this is the sign of the painters ability to bring them all together.

… Now lines reject the harmony, shades all of a sudden complement each other snatching light and shadow from each other and at the same instant they cease carrying the former name – shade. Surprising compositions, colours, sometimes denying and sometimes confirming each other, reveal the canvas' vital quiver and breath.
Why did we say “compositions”? Because several, sometimes a dozen of them can appear on one canvas, but they all confirm the whole structure of the painting, remaining at the same time, part and parcel of the picture.
This is one of the peculiarities of Zaras' compositions. Her images appear according to the laws of revelation, exactly like her essence, images exposed and set up in cages as if given from above.
The laws of art decomposition are rejected, the laws of art decomposition are confirmed.
Exposed regularities are perceived. The painter exists in all the spheres of her creations with her firm and gentle lines, in the play of colours like mixing and dissolving clouds, exists in her forms and compositions.
This is not a theoretical definition of talent but a definition applicable to Zaras' works. Her art is the stamp of her personal inner power.
Shall we enumerate her works or not? This won't give much to the reader but will only prompt to see the pictures – “Greek harbour”, “ Amsterdam ”, “Jazz in Nimmes”, others…

So, better not go on. Still, let us contemplate over one-two…

Her “Harbour” smells of sea, Greak sea. It looks like you will hear the call of a seaman who resembles an ancient pagan god, all around will fill with sounds, colours and smells of crushed stone, marble, legendary islands, vessels. Hovering houses prompt that the painter, still so young, subconsciously though, managed to foresee and leave the stamp of artistic solutions on the Stones of Great Road.
“Amsterdam”…It seems as if the water, the land, the people of Holland are close and dear to her, like her homeland, though she didn't put much effort to describe them. But they belong to the canvas like stars belonging to the skies in the day-time. They do exist and likewise there exists one law in Zara's works – supersensitivity, a sensation that passes on from the painter to the viewer with every painting, wave after wave, tint after tint, with her peculiar lines, her enigmatic forms.
And at last, one unique feeling – under ideography lies idea, “light is discovered under the lifted stone”, enigma of mysteries comes to the fore. Thus, this short trip with Zara Manucharyan who will give us ample chances of meeting again will never burden your soul even if strain you mind.

Romik Sardaryan
Writer, art critic, publicist