In September 2001 Pharos Publishers produced a major new monograph on the works of Sarkis Hamalbashian, one of Armenia’s leading contemporary artists. Sarkis was born in Gyumri and lives and works in the capital Yerevan. He has had solo exhibitions in London, Basel and Paris and has participated in group exhibitions in Russia, Germany, Finland and the USA. His works can be found in museums and private collections.

The book, entitled simply Sarkis, is a treatise on the artist’s technique – a neo-expressionist style which incorporates a compendium of different modes of representation with a mix of abstract streaks and drips of oil paint, carefully stenciled outlines, delicate drawings and photographs depicting a world in turmoil. Images cohere formally, seeming to imply narrative, but then unravel and slip away as though half-remembered in a dream proving as fallible as any system by which we attempt to structure our existence.

This attractively presented catalogue, designed by Herman Lelie and printed by PJ Print, London, consists of more than twenty-five colour plates, including a critical essay by Jane Burton, Curator of Interpretation at the Tate Modern, London.