Sarkis Sabunyan

Sarkis Sabunyan — Biography

Sarkis Zabunyan — known professionally simply as Sarkis — was born on 26 September 1938 in Istanbul to a family of Armenian descent. After studying at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, he moved to Paris in 1964 and eventually became a French citizen while retaining his Turkish roots; he now holds both nationalities. What began as a painting practice expanded over the following decades into sculpture and sound and video installation, and by the late 1960s he had emerged as one of the pioneering figures of installation art.

His work, which draws on architecture, music and the visual arts, has been shown at major institutions including the Louvre, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Rome's MAXXI and the Centre Pompidou. Also active as an art teacher in France, Sarkis is known for pieces such as Days and Nights and was named a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres by the French state. Followed today through his official site sarkis.fr, he remains one of the most internationally visible artists to have emerged from Turkey's Armenian community.