Raffi Yedalian

Distraction

Born in Beirut in 1973, Yedalian is a Lebanese-Armenian painter and sculptor. He studied etching at the Academie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts “ALBA”, and fine arts at the Academy of Fine Art Toros Roslin. He is a member of the Lebanese Artists Association of Painters and Sculptors and a member of the Artists Union of Armenia. He was a Fine Arts instructor at Haigazian University of Beirut from 2006 till 2020. He was awarded the “Lorenzo il Magnifico” Gold Medal at the XIIth Florence Biennale 2019, for his painting installation “Reflection of an Enigmatic Mind” dedicated to the fifth centenary of Leonardo Da Vinci's death. And in 2013 he was a Prize winner at the competition of the Age of Bronze at the Modern and Contemporary Art Museum “MACAM”, Alita, Lebanon. Yedalian’s work has been showcased in: Volta Basel (Switzerland), Moderne Art (France), Art 15 London (UK), XIIth Florence Biennale (Italy), Red Dot Miami (USA), Modern Art Museum of Yerevan (Armenia), Beirut Art Fair (Lebanon), Contemporary Art Platform CAP (Kuwait), Art Week Dubai (UAE), Armenia Art Fair (Armenia), Armenian Genocide Museum (Yerevan), International Print Festival Life N Style (Georgia). In 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated and blessed his bronze monument of “Hagop Meghabard” (who published the first printed book in the Armenian language in Venice in 1512), during his visit to Our Lady of Bzommar, Lebanon, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the first Armenian printed book “Ourpatakirk”. A miniature replica of the monument is part of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s collection in Vatican City. In 2015, Yedalian presented to His Holiness Pope Francis his painting of “Blessed Ignatius Maloyan”, in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican, and this painting has been reproduced and issued by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State in a Limited-Edition Stamp on September 2, 2015. In 2007-2008, he created and executed the stained glasses, the Holy Spirit sculpture and the Angels sculptures of the Saint Cross Armenian Catholic Church of Zalka, Lebanon. In 2017, he created the Torch of Our Lady of Fatima, which was offered by His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Cardinal Rai, on behalf of the Catholic Church of Lebanon, to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some of the artist’s works are in permanent collections including: Sursock Museum (Lebanon), Vatican City (Rome), Modern and Contemporary Art Museum “MACAM” (Lebanon), Modern Art Museum of Yerevan (Armenia), Museum of the Shrine of Fatima (Portugal), Museum of The Armenian Genocide (Armenia), Ministry of Culture (Lebanon), Museum of the Convent of Our Lady Bzommar (Lebanon), Museum of the Great House of Cilicia (Lebanon), and many more throughout the world.