The Galerie De Medicis in Paris is pleased to present the new works of Abraham Papikyan, a contemporary artist based in Paris who has developed a singular technique for creating portraits on glass using a hammer. His figurative black‑and‑white compositions, made from meticulously fractured glass, offer a striking vision of the human face, suspended between fragility and strength.

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1983, Abraham Papikyan gradually shifted his artistic practice toward glass, a medium he chose for its transparency, its light, and its ability to capture emotion. Now living in Paris, he “paints” with a hammer, breaking the surface of the glass sheet to reveal lines, shadows, and volumes. 

Each impact becomes a precise, almost calligraphic gesture that structures the portrait and creates a subtle play of light, enhanced by the use of black and white. These works, created on glass and framed in metal, can be read both as drawings and as luminous sculptures. In these new pieces presented at Galerie De Medicis, Abraham Papikyan explores the human figure with particular intensity: absorbed gazes and silhouettes emerging from the fractured material. The black‑and‑white portraits draw on the contrast between intact areas of glass, cracks, and shadows to create an almost photographic sense of depth. The cracked‑glass technique evokes both the vulnerability of the subject and the resilience inscribed in the very structure of the work. From a distance, the image appears clear and figurative; up close, the viewer discovers the abstraction of the network of fissures. 

Abraham Papikyan’s new glass works are on view at the gallery: each piece invites visitors to move around it, to change their point of view, allowing the glass to catch the light and reveal new details.