ArtGemini Prize 2016 Exhibition

Thursday 22 September – Friday 30 September (10.00 – 18.00)

Asia House Gallery

63 New Cavendish St W1G 7LP London United Kingdom

http://www.artgeminiprize.com/shortlisted-artists-2016/

http://asiahouse.org/events/art-gemini-prize-2016-exhibition/

Royal Photographic Society

The Royal Photographic Society

https://www.rps-international.org/about/shortlist-159/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEs27xEAjpK/

Sam magazine (editor`s pick May 2016)

Editor's pick, Sam Slovak art magazine (May 2016)

 http://www.sam-magazine.sk/en/galeria-vyber-redakcie-maj-2016/

 

Divine Decay

 “Despite wide recognition that art has an important commercial aspect, art sustains its cultural image as an essentially sanctified domain of higher spiritual values, beyond the realm of material life and praxis”. [01]

-Richard Shusterman

Divine Decay is a series of photographic/mixed media constructions informed and inspired by holy texts, illuminated manuscripts, death memorials, alchemical/occult symbols, sacred geometry, religious icons and Renaissance panel paintings. The work deals with memory, remembrance and decay and tackles issues such as spirituality which is often neglected but also essential for the well-being and inner balance of the individual in our hypertechnological and increasingly materialistic society.

The gritty and damaged appearance of the images alludes to fragility, mortality and the transient nature of earthly existence. Although such subjects are generally perceived as rather morbid and depressing, reflection on their significance could prove to be an illuminating way of reflecting on life. Photography is a medium often associated with death and impermanence: in her influential book On Photography Susan Sontag suggests that “all photographs are memento mori.” “A photograph,” she says, “is  (participation) in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability.” [02]

The use of photographic portraiture intends to affect the viewer on a visceral and spiritual level: quite often a face has been described as “the mirror of the soul” and even today some cultures believe that a photograph somehow captures the soul of a person. The combination of portraits with religious iconography, holy texts and various esoteric symbols suggests that death may not be a definite full stop but -perhaps- a gateway to another kind of existence. According to many religions and wisdom traditions life on earth may be perceived as a gift, a learning experience or a kind of journey. The father of analytical psychology C.G. Jung (who combined various fields of research such as religion, mythology and alchemy) believed that the human psyche has a relatively trans-spacial and trans-temporal nature. As he has argued, “we are not completely subjected to the powers of annihilation because our psychic totality reaches beyond the barrier of space and time.” [03]

Life after death as a concept is somewhat incomprehensible, ungraspable and unfathomable. Nevertheless, it is perhaps something we ought to consider and prepare for. The aim of  Divine Decay is to remind us both of our finitude and our potential immortality: via playful combinations relationships are formed which result in a kind of alchemical synthesis of various elements which seek to communicate with the viewer on an aesthetic, esoteric and spiritual level.

References:

[01] Shusterman R. (fall 2008) ‘Art and Religion’. Journal of Aesthetic Education. 42 (3), p.2.

[02] Sontag, S. (1978) On Photography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[03] Jung, C.G. (1999) Jung on Death and Immortality. Princeton University Press, p. 132.

Photos from Photometria Festival

Alovebigas magazine

f-stop magazine #74 (Telling Stories)

Four photographs from "Constructed Narratives, Imagined Realities" featured in f-stop photography magazine issue #74 Dec 2015-Jan 2016 (Telling Stories).

http://www.fstopmagazine.com

Work in Progress (21-11-2015)

Photometria 2015 (Thessaloniki)

“Faith” group show at “OKTO” photogallery (Thessaloniki, Mitropoleos 125).

Private view 15 Sep 2015 (8 pm). Duration: 16 Sep-25 Sep (Mon-Fri, 10am-8pm).

  http://www.oktophotography.gr/

Photometria Festival 2015 (Faith)

An exhibition of 25 photos based on the theme of "Faith". Held at the Municipal Cultural Multiplex (old slaughterhouses) of Ioannina from 27 May to 7 June 2015. The exhibition will travel to eleven Greek cities.

Photometria Festival is a cross-cultural meeting point bringing together ideas, traditions, worldviews and expressive media from all over the world. It includes a network of several cities across Greece and four European countries.

www.photometria.gr

https://www.facebook.com/Photometria

Work in Progress: Memorial Chapel II

mixed media assemblage

Work in Progess: Memorial Chapel

Bibliotheque magazine

http://www.bibliotheque.gr/article/45288

https://www.facebook.com/435205189825589/photos/a.435212593158182.105291.435205189825589/997764863569616/?type=1&theater 

Θεσσαλονίκη: Φωτογραφίζω την πόλη μου που αλλάζει

Photography exhibition at Alaca Imaret Mosque (Kassandrou 91-93, Thessaloniki, 20-24 Dec 2014)
http://www.photocontest-thessaloniki2014.com/gallery 

http://thessaloniki4all.gr/el/places/μεταβυζαντινή-εποχή/alaca-imaret

http://www.thessaloniki2014.eu/

Photometria Festival στη Θεσσαλονίκη και άλλες πόλεις

                                                                                                                                                      Η έκθεση Photometria Awards 2014 "Reflection" συνεχίζει το ταξίδι της σε διάφορες πόλεις της Ελλάδας. 4-21 Σεπτεμβρίου θα φιλοξενηθεί στην Θεσσαλονίκη στο Art Room Propaganda Rollin Co Store (Ισαύρων 7).

Oι πόλεις και οι ημερομηνίες του tour είναι:

Πάργα, Villa Rossa  20 Ιουνίου - 8 Ιουλίου 2014

Πάρος, Ξενοδοχείο Αργοναύτης 12- 30 Ιουλίου 2014

Κεφαλλονιά, Saristra Festival 8-10 Αυγούστου 2014

Θεσσαλονίκη, Art Room Propaganda Rollin Co Store 4-21.9.2014

Αθήνα, Athens House of Photography 24.9-13.10.2014

Βόλος, Πολυχώρος Τσαλαπάτα 6-23 Νοεμβρίου 2014

Χανιά, Νεώριο Μόρο (Ιστιοπλοϊκός όμιλος Χανίων) 2-9 Δεκεμβρίου 2014

Άργος, Αψέντι καφέ 17 Δεκεμβρίου 2014 - 11 Ιανουαρίου 2015

Πάτρα, 22 Ιανουαρίου - 1 Φεβρουαρίου 2015

Μυτιλήνη, 2 - 6 Μαρτίου 2015, εκθεσιακός χώρος ΦΕΜ , Πιττακού 15

Πρέβεζα, 20-29 Μαρτίου 2015

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/640630266052614/

https://www.facebook.com/Photometria

Φωτογραφία απ'το Saristra Festival στην Κεφαλλονιά.

                                                                                                                                                  Το Saristra Festival είναι το σημαντικότερο καλλιτεχνικό γεγονός των Ιονίων Νήσων, ένα μουσικό και εικαστικό φεστιβάλ στα ερείπια του παλιού χωριού των Βλαχάτων Κεφαλλονιάς. Εκθέσεις εικαστικών τεχνών, προβολές ταινιών, σεμινάρια και διαλέξεις καθώς και δραστηριότητες για παιδιά φιλοξενούνται στα χαλάσματα των σπιτιών.                                                                                                                                http://saristrafestival.gr/ προγραμμα/παραλληλεσ-δραστηριοτητεσ/

                                        Φωτογραφία απ'τον Πολυχώρο Τσαλαπάτα στον Βόλο

Το Εργοστάσιο Πλινθοκεραμοποιίας Ν.  & Σ. Τσαλαπάτα ήταν ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα του είδους του. Τα εργαστήρια και οι βιομηχανικοί χώροι έχουν αναστηλωθεί και αποτελούν σήμερα σπάνιο δείγμα διασωζόμενου βιομηχανικού συγκροτήματος στον ελληνικό χώρο.

http://www.piop.gr/MuseumNetwork/MouseioPlinthokeramopoieiasTsalapata/ToMouseio.aspx

                             Φωτογραφία απ'την έκθεση στη Φωτογραφική Εταιρεία Μυτιλήνης 

Φωτογραφική Εταιρεία Μυτιλήνης

Πιττακού 15, 81100 Μυτιλήνη, 2251041555, photo@fem.gr

http://www.fem.gr/index.php?option=3&sub=&id=266

Mannequin

Mixed Media on Canvas (three panels forming a triptych, 114x46cm)
http://www.thinkfree.gr/30-χρόνια-σκετβε-1983-2013-μεγάλη-έκθεση-τω-2/

Red Despair

Oil, acrylic and pastel on paper (two panels: each 29,7x21,0cm)

Memento Mori

Mixed Media on Canvas, 40x40cm

In Blue

Mixed Media on Canvas, 50x50cm

The "Abstraction" paintings

This series of paintings represents the artist’s obscure inner condition in pursuit of individuality and the “absolute”. This work was the result of “inner unrest” and an overwhelming desire to express the ineffable -a kind of “mirroring” of the inner self into the material environment.

The paintings could be best described as self-signifying, self-referential entities which speak in a cryptic “imagistic” language. Potentially, the paintings could function as “portals” which transport the viewer to the realm of pure aesthetic and intellectual speculation.

There are three key recurring motifs: circular shapes, dark-coloured backgrounds and three-dimensional objects. The circle is a symbol of wholeness/ perfection and refers to the discovery of transcendental awareness. The dark backgrounds symbolize primordial emptiness, the void and the unconscious. Out of the “emptiness” emerge three-dimensional objects which with their “materiality” disrupt the two-dimensional surface of the canvas. By being incorporated into the artwork these discarded objects become “sublimated”- their formal reality is transcended and they are transformed into symbols of spiritual consciousness.

Construction 4 (mixed media, 60x50cm)

Construction 8 (mixed media, 60x50cm)

Transrational Domain (mixed media, 60x50cm)

Subsignals (mixed media, 60x50cm)

Transcendental Imagination (mixed media, 40x40cm)

Merge (mixed media, 40x40cm)

Memories

Professional Photographer August 2014

"Self Portrait" is featured in Professional Photographer (Aug 2014 issue). Catherine Connor comments:

"If inspiration, innovation and creative thought inspires you, this image will. It has all these ingredients alongside great composition and balance. The colour and tonal range is simply beautiful. It left me moved and inspired. It's breath taking."

www.professionalphotographer.co.uk

Sam Magazine issue 12

                  Two "Erotic Decay" photographs published in Sam Slovak art magazine issue 12.

                  http://www.sam-magazine.sk/en/galeria/nggallery/gllery/sam-12-1

                  http://www.calameo.com/read/000938471a1fc00e964be

Photometria Festival 2014

An exhibition of 25 photos based on the theme "Reflection". Held at the Municipal Cultural Multiplex (old slaughterhouses) of Ioannina from 4 to 15 June 2014 (Mon-Fri 18:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-14:00 & 18:00-22:00).The exhibition will travel to seven Greek cities.

www.photometria.gr

https://www.facebook.com/Photometria