Born in Beirut in 1972 to famous Armenian modernist Paul Guiragossian, Manuella Guiragossian grew up surrounded by people with a passion for art and culture. Having graduated with a degree in film and video, specializing in character animation, from the Californian Institute of the Arts in 2002, today Guiragossian is renowned for her colorful acrylic paintings characterized by a playful and cartoonish aesthetic. A large body of her work is based on her childhood which was collected by her father and kept in his studio. The desire of to revisit the naïve art of her childhood is driven by a political impulse. In the artist’s words, a child’s imagination and unconscious are so strong and honest that there is no need to use symbolism to covey an idea…This is why I constantly try to tap back into my childhood self, to create a world that is the only place where I could find refuge from the ugly realities we are surrounded by on a daily basis. Guiragossian has exhibited in numerous galleries around the world including her native Lebanon, Qatar, Singapore, Amsterdam, North America, and France.
