Alen Salerian M D

Paintings from a Saleri-Salerian Exhibition Alen Salerian M D

This little book is an exhibition of our family, captured by my mother Kristin Saleri's magical brush, and also several paintings by one of her pupils, myself. Kristin Agopovitch was born to create. She was a beautiful voice for minority rights. She masterfully depicted Anatolian landscapes, Turkish folklore, and Armenian heritage. Her paintings captured the essence of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and the extraordinary blending of Armenian and Turkish cultures throughout history. Saleri painted with fire and courage. A profound force on her creative genius was her uncle, poet Dr. Rupen Sevag. She was born in 1915, the same year her uncle, an officer in the Ottoman army, fell victim to prejudice in Cankiri. The family portraits reflect her softer feminine aspect of love for family. My paintings are all about pain. Expressing pain is my gift, like painting was for my mother. It may be difficult to see all the connections on canvas. My father cried on November 22, 1963 and said JFK was an American Rupen Sevag... Years later when I discovered that my father was right about JFK I began painting. Until then I had never painted. I was painting again after Hrant Dink died and when I learned about Kubrick's death after his Apollo confession. Will politics always rule life on earth?Can we do better? Is life about bad Turks, Americans, and Germans, or good Blacks, Armenians, Arabs, and Jews? Am I wrong to think Darwin was right, that we all began as bacteria 4.5 billion years ago and since then have become smart monkeys - some of us painters and others disliking painters - blessed with cell phones and nuclear bombs? Are we really humans?I paint to feel human, to express my pain through colours I stole from my mother. Alen J. Salerian, MD, Paleo Falero, Greece