This is painter and dancer Onik Sahakyan, who has been a friend of Dali
for about 20 years. He is a unique and talented individual with a
flexible body and eyes that express everything. Onik Sahakyan was born
in Tehran and has attended the dance school named after the famous
ballet master Elena Avetisyan. After graduating from the school, Onik
has danced in the ballet performances put on in New York and Paris.
He has received his education in Moscow. The impressive, talented
dancer has performed Indian and Persian dances and has starred in a few
films. While traveling to India, Onik has not only studied Indian
dance, but also, Indian costumes. He has designed stage costume and has
made oriental style, elegant jewels. Onik has even made a necklace for
the wife of U.S. President Richard Nixon. “I have always wanted to
express myself. First, I did it through ballet, and then art,” says
Onik Sahakyan whose 16 canvases will be shown at the “Gevorgyan”
exhibition at the end of September. Onik Sahakyan is a real artist, a
“master of art”. He surrounds himself with beautiful items and memoirs.
He believes that there is an element of art in each piece of work. He
loves to cook and believes that when a man comes up with new recipes,
he doesn’t lose the vigor that he had when he was young. Onik Sahakyan
has returned to his historic homeland for the first time.
“168 hours”: “How did you get to meet with Dali? It is very interesting.”
Onik Sahakyan: “I loved Dali before meeting him. I used to cut
up his pictures from magazines and paste them on the walls of my house.
In 1958, Dali happened to be in New York and I asked my friend, who was
a hairstylist, to introduce me to him. Dali told him: “If your friend
wants to meet me, then he truly is crazy.” I saw Dali for the first
time when he came to the barber shop to get a hair cut and wax his
famous moustache. I must say that he paid a lot of attention to his
moustache because he wanted to be like Velasquez. He really wanted to
be like the famous Spanish artist. Upon entering the barber shop,
Dali’s eyes immediately set on me as I did a ballet move and did a huge
spin. Dali was amazed. He did not expect someone to make such a crazy
entrance.
“168 hours”: “You probably wanted to make an extravagant entrance, just like Dali’s style.”
Onik Sahakyan: “Yes. He got out of his chair and gave me his
blessing in a very theatrical way-that his how our friendship began. He
liked my character, my style. After a while, I started attending his
hotel. He let me watch him as he painted. Dali did not let anyone else
be present while he was working, besides me. He forbade that. He even
insisted on me being next to him. Dali told me: “I want the palette to
be in your hands so that I can paint using the palette held in your
hands.” Dali was very strange-he used to press hard for the paint to
come out of the phial, he used to rub the paint for a while so that it
wouldn’t run out quickly. After that, Dali then started to paint. At
the time, I was very young and all that just seemed funny to me. Dali
and I became closer during the 1970s. He used to come to New York every
year for three months and we would always spend time together. For
Dali, it was a custom to meet in the hotel lobby for two hours with his
fans and sign his books. If he liked the customer, he might even paint
a little in the book. There were so many people that Dali used to go
crazy. When he got tired, he would come up to his room and say to me:
“Tell everyone to disappear. I want to talk with you. You are the one
that has a lot of Dali in him. So, you must already know what I want
without me telling you.”
“168 hours”: “Was Dali wearing a mask and showing all his awkwardness, or was he like that in real life too?”
Onik Sahakyan: “Dali was like that in real life. You can’t even
imagine how strange he was. One day, while we were getting ready to go
to a concert, he realized that his wife Gala was getting late. He made
such a racket that everyone got startled. He was yelling and you got
the impression that Dali was a lunatic. Dali was a very talented
artist, but he had a very complicated and unpredictable character. We
left Gala and went to the concert together. Another time, the first day
when Dali came to New York from Paris, he saw three flies in his room
and said: “Look, Onik, these three flies come to see me each year. The
same flies were here last year too.” I used to laugh at what he was
saying, to my self, but of course, I loved Dali a lot and I used to
make many jewels for him. Do you know what was Dali’s and his wife’s
favorite meal? It was barbecue. I was lighting a fire in the balcony of
my New York home and making barbecue. Dali said to me: “I can live with
eating barbecue every day.”
“168 hours”: “Did you start to paint too after meeting Dali?”
Onik Sahakyan: “I was painting even before I met Dali, but not
professionally. I used to paint while making jewels. But after Dali’s
death, I started to paint professionally.”
“168 hours”: “Your style of painting is both like Dali’s paintings and different at the same time. It is more subtle.”
Onik Sahakyan: “We differ in styles. Dali’s style is more
aggressive, while mine is more mystic. Besides that, my style is
considered mystic surrealism. Dali always wanted to shock people and
amaze them with his paintings. I am not against that, but I just didn’t
want to paint like that. I think that there are too many things in this
life that can really shock anyone and I don’t feel the need of adding
more amazement to my paintings. I do not like to use negative colors. I
don’t believe in using that approach.”
“168 hours”: “Do you have any of Dali’s paintings?”
Onik Sahakyan: “I used to have forty of Dali’s paintings. He has
done drawings, oil and watercolor paintings, and sculptures. I have
bought many of them. Dali has given me many of his drawings, but I
can’t hang every one of them on my wall. I only have some oil paintings
hung on the walls of my living room. I am a collector of art and I have
a very large collection. I like classic Italian art the most. I have
paintings done by Rubens, Goya and Guardi in my home. I even had a
painting done by Rembrandt but I decided to sell it. It was such a
small painting and I was afraid that it might get stolen. But now I
regret selling it, it really was a beautiful painting. You have to feel
like you own your painting. It is simply absurd to hang every nice
painting on the wall.”
“168 hours”: “There are many good painters in Armenia, but
often they have little chances of presenting their work to the rest of
the world. How can that be done?”
Onik Sahakyan: “Before thinking about which painting to buy, one
thinks about what he is going to eat, wear, how he is going to take
care of his expenses. It would be nice to see people in Armenia
spending the money they earn on a nice painting, rather than just
saving. Money may lose its value, but a good painting never does. You
must simply know who is a better painter. I am not familiar with how
the Armenian government sees this, but there are art markets everywhere
around the world, people can see for themselves which artist’s work is
put up for display more frequently and which painting gets sold the
most. You can open up a newspaper and read some suggestions being made
about buying the given artist’s painting because of right timing and
also because that painting may cost more in a couple of years. The more
paintings in a home, the more people will start to talk about that
artist and that artist will reach fame. I think that people in Armenia
must start buying more paintings.”
“168 hours”: “Dali used to do everything he could to get people talking about him. Did befriending him help you advance in your career?”
Onik Sahakyan: “Dali has really helped me a lot. People used to
see us together and, obviously, many people knew who I was. Today, I am
successful in selling my paintings, I am invited to many exhibitions
and I have published some books. Dali is always by my side. I talk
about him during every interview. Someone says one thing and then
conversations continue. A month ago, a huge exhibition of Dali’s art
opened up in Portugal and I also showed some of my work there. Since I
did not wish to sell my paintings, I had fixed a very valuable price on
them so that customers would not even come close to them. But they all
got sold. I really did not want to sell them, but then again, you
really don’t know when you will succeed.”
“168 hours”: “Where do you live now?”
Onik Sahakyan: “Currently, I live in two places: New York and
Lisbon. After the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, I try not
to travel too much. There is just too much sadness. I can not imagine
my life without New York. I am in love with that city. New York is not
America-I don’t like America. Even though New York is a state, it is a
country of its own created by the Jews. Everything is centralized in
New York-art, music, theatre, fashion…. and the Jews are behind
everything. The entire media is in the hands of Jews. What do Americans
know about anything for them to write in a magazine? I moved to the
United States because that country is the land of opportunity. If you
have the talent, then you will most definitely be successful. You can
do everything in America, and you can do even more in New York. If you
are an artist or singer, you don’t go to California or Texas. There is
no need to do that. You must go to New York. You either have to love
New York, or hate it.”
“168 hours”: “You are in Armenia for the first time. Until
your invitation for the “Gevorgyan” exhibition, didn’t you want to come
to Armenia?”
Onik Sahakyan: “I had a great desire to come, but I just didn’t
have the time. I am very busy. I have left so many things undone before
coming to Armenia. You can not imagine how much I want to stay here for
a month to see and do everything. I have two cousins here whom I have
not seen for a very long time. I was very pleased to see them. Yerevan
is kind of scary for me-I can’t even cross the street. I don’t
understand why people don’t follow the rules. That is not a good thing
for us Armenians. Why doesn’t the government regulate transportation?”
“168 hours”: “I don’t know. Maybe it is because we have grown accustomed to that and now regulation doesn’t mean anything to us.”
Onik Sahakyan: “But it does mean a lot. One must always strive for the best.”
“168 hours”: “Can art change a person’s life?”
Onik Sahakyan: “Indeed. For example, I hope that my paintings
will be appreciated by Armenians. I have brought with me many paintings
that have a positive influence, that make people look at life in a
positive way. My paintings make the person go deeper into another
atmosphere, they mix up thoughts and create a new sense of feeling. You
can make any problem disappear simply by looking at a painting. If not,
then it should be that way. One has many things to do in his or her
life. I never forget that. I am done with ballet, now I am a painter.
It is always like that. One thing finishes, and the other begins.”