The Pinajian Discovery Exhibition at OSilas Gallery

At one time destined for destruction in the town dump at the direction of its creator is a body of work that has enjoyed international attention since its salvation—from articles in The New York Times and The Telegraph to a segment on Good Morning America—and is now shown in OSilas Gallery at Concordia College. Although the artist died in obscurity and found little commercial success in his lifetime, works by Arthur Pinajian (1914-1999) are now highly valued by collectors as evidenced by sales in recent years.

In 1999 Arthur Pinajian died an unknown artist whose obsession with art—creating it, thinking about it, writing about it—consumed his life.  He devoted himself to art and created thousands of works on canvas, paper and any other surface on which he could paint or draw.  When he died, he left behind stacks of canvases in a dirt-floor garage and the attic of his sister’s home in Bellport, Long Island. The artist had left instructions for his collection to be discarded in the town dump, but, fortunately, Lawrence E. Joseph, the best-selling author of Apocalypse 2012, bought the Bellport cottage 2006 after Pinajian’s sister died and rescued the collection just in time.

This exhibition will feature over 35 of Pinajian’s abstract expressionist landscapes, as well as materials illustrating a life dedicated to art.  The works on show cover the period from 1958 to 1994.  Many of the works featured in this exhibition are available for acquisition.

To learn more about the discovery of Pinajian’s artwork, please see this New York Times article and Good Morning America story.