SHAVO ODADJIAN Art Piece To Be Released Through WHEN ART IMITATES LIFE

SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist and ACHOZEN visionary Shavo Odadjian bleeds art.

So in honor of his multi-faceted musical and visual soul, Los Angeles-based creative firm When Art Imitates Life will release a limited-edition print designed and conceived by the Grammy-winning multi-platinum musician himself. An idiosyncratic, intelligent and intimate self-portrait, the piece reflects the many sides of Shavo. However, Shavo is going to imbue and imprint a part of himself on every piece by personally augmenting it in subtle way, tweaking it with acrylic paints, sketching and adding his own designs. Just like Shavo, each one of the When Art Imitates Life pieces is truly one of a kind.

100 pieces, personally augmented and signed, will be available on When Art Imitates Life's official web site (www.whenartimitateslife.com) on April 22, 2010 — Shavo's birthday. 10 of those pieces are 80x60, while the other 90 are 40x30. Those interested are encouraged to sign up now for exclusive information about the collection at whenartimitateslife.com. They will also have the opportunity to own one in the series before the public.

When Art Imitates Life creative director Cory Danziger comments, "Shavo's been doing visual art for years. However, this is really the first time that fans can own one of his pieces. He was able to look inward and create something that will make anyone stop, look and listen. You can get a pretty deep experience with one glance."

Iconic hip hop producer King Tech suggested Shavo for When Art Imitates Life back in October 2009. Tech initially brought Shavo's ACHOZEN partner-in-crime RZA for a vision of the rap legend crossing the Potomac WU-TANG style, and it seemed fitting that Shavo would serve as When Art Imitates Life's next subject after RZA. "I want everybody's piece to be unique," says Tech. "When you make an album, you don't want it to sound like anyone else's-this is the same concept. Shavo came up with something that only he could come up with. He's a true individual — he's a rock head, a hip hop head, he knows dance music and he even DJs. It's an intricate and deep piece that pays homage to every aspect of his creativity."

The piece features various visions of Shavo — from dark to light to somber to helpful. Bones of the Armenian genocide adorn one half while Shavo's personal triumph seeps through the other. Shavo describes the work best, "Art is different within every human being that lives life. It's creation. I wanted the piece to be abstract, but I wanted to represent everything that's been on my mind. I usually speak that or play it musically. Now, I'm giving the same thing without words or music but visually and conceptually. There are various eyes on the piece, because they're the window into the soul. I want it to represent how a person is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. No one thing can represent a soul. We're more than a day, and we're more than a moment. There's more to us than meets the eye."

There's more to every piece too because Shavo is a part of each one. Not only is this a must for his fans but also for art lovers everywhere. This piece is for everyone.

Shavo concludes, "I don't look at this as me; I look at it as us. I'm just representing the human race in this portrait."