Varujan Boghosian: Material Poetry

September 18 – December 22, 2024

American artist Varujan Boghosian (1926-2020) turned castaway objects into art. To find material for his collages and assembled sculptures he searched flea markets, antique stores, the local dump, and the shores near Provincetown. With a poet’s mind, he juxtaposed unrelated items and playfully pushed the boundaries of dream and reality. Reflecting on his artistic process, Boghosian said, “I don’t make anything, I find everything.”

This exhibition presents collages and mixed-media pieces that span Boghosian’s career, including rarely seen artworks from the collection of his daughter, Heidi Boghosian. Well-known as an art professor at major American universities, Boghosian played a large role in the Provincetown art colony, influencing generations of artists and writers. As one of a group of artists who founded Provincetown’s Long Point Gallery, he showed alongside such artists as Robert Motherwell and Budd Hopkins.

Boghosian’s work can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of America Art, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, the Cape Cod Museum of Art, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Curated by Sarah Johnson, Cahoon Museum’s executive director.