Arthur Kayzakian, <em>The Book of Redacted Paintings</em>

Vahé Berberian, "Nuque," acrylic on canvas, 48x60, 2013 (courtesy of the artist).

4 JUNE 2023 • By Arthur Kayzakian

 

Arthur Kayzakian presents The Book of Redacted Paintings.

 

 

 

 

The Book of Redacted Paintings is published by Black Lawrence Press.

In Arthur Kayzakian’s The Book of Redacted Paintings, the narrative arc follows a boy in search of his father’s painting, but it is unclear whether the painting exists or not. The book, a poetry collection, is also populated by a series of paintings. Some are real, incomplete, and/or missing, while most are redacted from reality. The withdrawn paintings concept is the emotional arc of the book, a combination of wishing one could paint the pieces he/she/they envision and the feeling of something torn out of a person due to a traumatic upbringing. A sort of erasure ekphrasis, to foresee artwork that was never painted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arthur Kayzakian

Arthur Kayzakian Arthur Kayzakian is the winner of the 2021 Black Lawrence Immigrant Writing Series award for his collection, The Book of Redacted Paintings, which was also selected as a finalist for the 2021 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. He is the... Read more

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