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ARMO
armopainter@yahoo.com
http://www.armo1.com
ARMO: was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. At only 24, he is the leading pioneer in the Alta-Modern graffiti genre. Of Armenian descent, he is fluent in both English and Armenian. He is bursting with energy, absolutely loves life, and lives every day to the fullest. He is most happy taking his work to the streets where everyone can see it. This also provides the opportunity for him to watch people’s reactions and get inspiration for his work.
As a child Armo was always looking for creative ways to express himself. In his early teen years he realized a passion for graffiti art and started collaborating with other street artists. Realizing the legal risks involved with much graffiti artwork, he worked hard to find ways to express himself in the more mainstream art world. His interest in typography and graphic design helped with this endeavor. By studying both means of communication, Armo was able to see the visual commonalities between typography and graffiti art: such as lettering and layout: and knew he could develop works that merged them together.
Thus, began the conception of what would later mature into the Alta-Modern genre.
Recently, graffiti has become more accepted by the mainstream art community, and Armo’s work is on the forefront of that movement. He combines these two forms of communication to create a colorful explosion of creativity and expression.
Armo uses a mixed media approach to his work. Combining several elements of digital styles, graffiti, paints, and textures to challenge the viewer’s comfort zones and break through stereotypes of what graffiti art stands for. He likes the freedom of expression that his art provides, and he often gets inspiration from the designs of German and Sweden artists, as well as from things he sees every day.
Armo’s color scheme is unique. He feels it is part of who he is; part of his “brand” which helps people to recognize his art immediately. He also does some monochromatic and black and white work, but he prefers “color therapy.” He uses the colors to create harmony in his life. As he explains, “it’s all about relationships and how colors feel next to each other and how they feel as a balance.”
His first showing was at the School of Art and Design at San Jose State. Since then, Armo’s work has been shown in several magazines, and in December 2009, he was invited to participate in the prestigious Art Basel show in Miami, Florida. He participated as part of the Graffiti Gone Global group show, and was the only artist representing the West Coast in their show. Art Basel was a launching pad for his career. He is currently preparing for showings in New Orleans and Boca, Florida in the fall. He will return to Art Basel, Miami in 2010.
EXHIBITIONS 2010 Pueblo Nuevo Gallery: Love Pistols in Color (Two man exhibit), Berkeley, CA * None of the artworks may be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Artist
2009 Buckwild Gallery (solo),12800 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90066
2009 KALEID Gallery: Michael Foley Feature Exhibits, San Jose, CA
2009 San Jose State University: Typograffica 1 (solo), N&J Thompson Gallery, San Jose, CA
2009 ART BASEL: Graffiti Gone Global (group show), Miami Beach Convention Center Miami, FL
2009 1:AM Gallery: ArtNowSF “Circle of Life” exhibit (group) AT&T Stadium, S. Francisco, CA
2008 Werkstatte Gallery (solo, 25 Maiden Lan, San Francisco, CA
2008 Black Walter Arts Gallery: (group, San Jose, CA
2008 APW Gallery: NYC – NYC Graffiti Stencil Exhibition (group show, NY)
2008 Urban Tactics Typography/Graffiti Exhibition (group), Berlin, Germany
2008 Mississippi M.U.D. Gallery: (group), Alton, IL
2008 Wolverhampton Art Gallery (group), Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK
2008 Pacific Art Collective: PAC Session (group), San Jose, CA
2008 Phantom Gallery: (solo) (artists’ forum) San Jose, CA
