Raffi Kalenderian’s solo exhibition “Memento Vivo” (Remember to Live) is a meditation on painting as much as it is a reminder to observe the real world as it rustles around you and enjoy its pleasures. His vibrant paintings—all variations on portraiture—explore the relationship of figure and ground. In a trio of paintings, Kalenderian collapses the two, camouflaging the sitter within a landscape of densely cacophonous foliage. In the strikingly vivacious Lauren (all works 2019) a young woman is positioned slightly below and left of center, her radiant tunic echoing the ripples of yellow in the riot of foliage behind her, yet her scowling visage conveys character and mood.

Raffi Kalenderian, Bernard (2019), Oil on canvas, 56.25 x 100 x 1.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Raffi Kalenderian, Robert, Bob, and Seymour (2019), Oil on canvas, 84 x 120 x 1.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

This compositional structure appears in Bernard (a young man standing before a lush garden) and Robert, Bob, and Seymour (a trio of two men and a French bulldog). If these evoke Hockney, other works, in which the distinction between figure and ground is more pronounced, suggest a kinship with Alice Neel. In Stephanie, the figure is seated before a white wall, her legs foreshortened. Here, Kalenderian’s deeply textured surfaces bristle with globs and scabrous passages surrounded by incisive brush strokes and luxuriant knifed-on sections. The lower portion of the painting shifts perspective, flattening a rug beneath her feet into pattern and color.

Raffi Kalenderian, Stephanie (2019), Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Kalenderian’s vibrant portraits interpret the sitter’s aura, which is alternately asserted and subsumed by the setting. Also reminiscent to the work of Jonas Wood, Kalenderian’s painting’s offer a glimpse into the private worlds of the sitter and artist.

Raffi Kalenderian, Erika (2019), Oil on paper, 50.5 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Raffi Kalenderian, Hormazd in his London Studio (2019), Oil on paper, 50.5 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Raffi Kalenderian, “Memento Vivo” May 18 – June 29, 2019, at Vielmetter Los Angeles, 6006 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. vielmetter.com