Ara Shiraz was born Aramazd Karapetyan (Armenian: Արամազդ Կարապետյան) in Yerevan in 1941. He graduated from the Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre of Yerevan in 1966. He participated in numerous exhibitions of young artists in Armenia and the Soviet Union. He was a member of the Painters Union of Armenia from 1968 until his death. His works have been exhibited in major cities of the U.S.S.R. (Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi) as part of solo and group shows. He took part in the Festival of Armenian Art "From Urartu to the Present" (Paris, 1970).
Shiraz was characterized by his monumental sculptural works. He was awarded the State Award of Armenia for his ornamental sculptures decorating the facade of the Dvin Hotel in Yerevan. In 1977 he was granted the title of Emeritus Artist of Armenia. In 1987 he was elected the president of the Artists' Union of Armenia, and a member of the Secretariat of the Artists' Union of the U.S.S.R.
In 2017, his works were displayed at the National Gallery of Armenia in an exhibition titled "Ara Shiraz: Retrospective".[1]
Shiraz' most renowned works include the busts of Pablo Picasso, Yervand Kochar, Hovhannes Shiraz and Vruir Galstian. Many of his sculptural compositions are on permanent exhibit in the Modern Art Museum of Armenia, the State Gallery of Armenia, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Eastern Nations Museum of Art in Moscow.
