the evasive twat

calligraphy, 1, 2,3, 2012

2012-01-12T00:51:00.001+02:00

First entries for this year in the 15nth sketchbook, or else "the red hand-bound one". It is another small sketchbook made from discarded photocopy paper I salvaged from a previous job. I stitched the papers together and subsequently hand-bound them, creating three separate sections. The cover is also made from discarded, red, book-binding fabric I found one day as I was walking around in my neighborhood. The drawings that appear here are in the second section that is titled, after-all rather inaccurately, "toys". They are experiments on the use of letters as shapes and not as carriers of meaning. The notes are either gibberish or two personal and impulsive to have any conceptual connotations. In a manner they are allusions to the calligraphy seen in Oriental drawings that only has aesthetic and not narrative purpose to the eyes of the Western admirer.

The fourteenth notebook (the one about Alice)

2011-11-14T10:20:00.001+02:00

I find "Alice" to be irresistible as a subject. I almost wish I was not as fascinated by her because so many artists (and lesser artists) have worked on this theme. Yet, I do like working on ideas that have provided the leitmotif of multiple artworks throughout the history of art, religious subjects included and of course Ophelia. I love them all. To Alice and the rest of the characters from both "Alice in Wonderland" and my personal favorite "through the looking glass" I decided to dedicate this sketchbook (other-wisely called "the fourteenth"). As expected I could not force myself to keep a sole topic and I added clouds to the experiment.

The book in question is one of the thinner ones I have made so far. It has only 20 A5 pages. I made it from re-claimed photocopy paper and sustainable handmade packaging paper. The media of drawing are pens, coloured pencils and oil-colours. It is also hand-bound and stitched.

I would like to mention that I keep all rights regarding the images and texts, but that I would offer some of them for non-commercial use under the condition that my name is clearly stated along the artwork. It would also be very polite if you actually gave notice of your intention to do so by sending me a message here. Please enjoy and don't forget that you can:
click on image to ENLARGE.


"the girl who liked dressing as a fox and go down rabbit-holes"

"Two stitched clouds" & "Fat Alice"

"Rain-bow"

"On a bright, cloudy day"

"Figure and landscape"

"Cat-Alice" & "the northern cat"

"the northern cat inverted" & "more clouds"

"Humpty-Dumpties, 1&2"

"Sent in the clouds" & "naked Alice with male genitalia"

"Siamese Alice" & "The Mad-hater's resort"

"Alices and clouds"-the cover

back cover

second front cover

Oil colours

2011-10-28T20:43:00.001+03:00

original fabric

"fragmented fields" (oil-colours on printed cotton fabric)

Unlike my practice until now, in this painting I upgraded the scale. The frame is approximately 80 cm wide. As for the content, I would like to keep my silence and not explain what I had in mind concept-wise, and let the viewer create his or her own narratives. The tittle is partly informative as it has allusions to the subject of representing fragmented spaces. Click on image to ENLARGE.

Sad

2011-07-27T18:16:00.003+03:00

In the box, ink on found piece of glossy paper
Sad 1 :ink on numbered paper
Little Mister BooHoo, markers on random piece of glossy paper
Non-Available : ink on random piece of paper

I have to admit that my drawings are getting more and more self-referential (as if this is not obvious enough). Truth is I also have the tendency to make them sad. Also, I created a new blog about the character of the third drawing. His name is Mr BooHoo that is also the tittle of the blog. The two first chapter of the story of his life have already been published there. Visit and enjoy.

Click on images to ENLARGE.

drawing perspectives

2011-07-25T14:42:00.004+03:00

Warm weather always gets me down.

While I was working for a children's magazine I managed to save a lot of paper on which we printed things and we would dispose later. All this paper was printed on one of its sides, so it made perfect scrap paper for handmade scrap paper notebooks. I attached the pages as shown and made the covers from fabrics used for bookbinding ( I also found these by the garbage). Thus I obtained the thirteenth sketchbook ( I know I haven't yet shown pages of the previous 3, but whatever).

In this I started working a little on the concept of fashion design, but concluded in being consumed by a passion for drawing fucked-up perspectives. Here is the sneak peek inside it along with a couple more drawings on the same subject. Click on image to ENLARGE.

Tote

2011-05-23T23:31:00.004+03:00

Random obligations have kept me away from updating this blog for some time now. Among other things I still have my solo going on and I am there for PR from Friday to Monday, from 19:00 until 21:30.
I finished the small sketchbook of girl-portraits I was working on but haven't had the opportunity to scan it yet. I have also worked on some dolls.
Still, just for the record I decided to present a work of design today. It is a pillow on which I had started cross-stitching, years ago, a traditional Cretan design. It was a bore so I decided to finish it by improvising, and work a little on the concept of pixel-art. It took almost a month to finish, it is dated as my drawings and I formed it into an oversize tote bag. I think it is one of the most edgy pieces I have done, so far, examining the borderline between aesthetic objects, art and design. I worked on it keeping constantly in mind the ethos within which I should work, for either of the cases. I can imagine this object equally easily on my shoulder when I am walking around, and in an exhibition space. Click on image to ENLARGE.

solo show comming up

2011-05-06T15:14:00.003+03:00

I am happy to announce that I will be showing a part of my work in the building of ελculture (click on the link for further info), Miltiadou 18, Athens, Greece. The exhibition will start within a three-day mini-festival-like setting with live music from the indie and experimental Greek scene. After this the doors will be open to the public from Friday to Monday, from 18:00 to 22:00, until the end of the month. Above is the poster (designed by Pafsanias.I, bunny and poo by me). I hope to see you there!

Seven Frogs, a Princess and a Cheek-Pea

2011-05-01T20:14:00.006+03:00

Some days ago a friend asked me to work on an idea with frogs, not really commission-style. More in the "I would be happy to see you making this, so that I can use it" manner. Anyway, I hope to see one of them printed. Thus, during the Easter brake my subject matter for a small sketchbook I had nicked, was frogs, inevitably princesses and oddly, a pea. I really liked the idea of the third drawing, where the prince has merged with the frog. Also in the seventh drawing is a Rain-God-Frog. There is one toad-pol, as well.

On the princess, cheek-pea drawing I have also written the story behind it. So, click on images to ENLARGE.

Recipe Book, 5-6-7-8

2011-04-25T15:33:00.003+03:00

As I have already mentioned, in a previous post, I have been experimenting in my kitchen lately and subsequently illustrating my recipe book. It fits the picture of the domesticated artist, a role on which I have not set my mind yet, although it appears, to me, to be less of a compromise considering the alternatives in a country of foul employers and economic crisis. Here are four more pages, three with cheek-pea recipes and one for broccoli. I remember being fascinated from the shape of the cheek-peas in 2007, when I decided to plant a few, on a piece of cotton soaked in water. Back then I was still making the big soft hanging sculptures in the school of Fine Arts. I wanted to make a full study on the shapes and make a small narrative, connecting it with the relevant princess. The cheek pea would be hanging from an umbilical cord, from the ceiling, as proof of the improper but sweet premise that she accepted it in her bed, and not under her mattress, as the silly tale tells. What would their offspring look like?
I never made it, but I am developing into an excellent cheek-pea cook.
I have modified the text so as to render it undecipherable, since this is not my cooking blog. For more info feel free to read the post titled "recipe book, first four". Click on image to ENLARGE.

Everybody's got something to hide except for me and my poop

2011-04-09T13:28:00.003+03:00

Unfinished business:
I keep adding elements to this object, yet it has been some time since I felt like it needed something without opening a whole new circle of remodeling. I have not settled on the tittle or the way of presentation either. I Think that the above tittle is the major contestant and the second photograph the most meaningful so far. Other possible tittles are "face the pooper" and "pooper and dragon". I plan to present it publicly within the next month in Athens. I shall post later more details. It is made from old socks, vintage buttons, Styrofoam and cotton stuffing, acrylic and oil colours. The photographs were taken within my domestic environment. Click on image to ENLARGE.

recipe book, first four

2011-03-31T22:15:00.003+03:00

I have often mentioned that the period of academia, in my life, was followed by one of "domestication". As expected I filled some time with cooking. I wish I could remember some fancy names of artists that liked to cook and collected recipes, so as to justify my case. Anyway, a friend of mine says that whoever likes to eat well should know how to cook. It sounds similar to "if you want something done properly, do it yourself". Thus I am mastering, slowly, the art of cooking. In this process I write down the recipes I have tried and alter to my tastes. The plausible consequence is that I started illustrating my book of recipes. In this post I am presenting four pages of it (I have meshed up the text, so as to make it indiscernible, since this is not my cooking blog). Click on image to ENLARGE.

The titles are:" pumpkin pie with feta cheese",
"velvety pumpkin soup",
"pumpkin risotto",
"velvet pumpkin soup with ginger".

2 girls 1 cup (cake)

2011-03-19T19:17:00.006+02:00

I have been absent from this side of the net for an annoyingly long time. I haven't been idle art-wise but I went through a rough period with health and job related issues absorbing me. My two part-time day jobs don't leave enough time to practice art and post about it. Between the two I chose the former.
I do have some good news though; I finished a book under the title "the manual" that I plan to show at an exhibition in Berlin the forthcoming June with the title "Normalcy Bias 2". I shall give more information about this in due time. I do not wish to show any of its content on the web yet.
I have also been making a lot of small drawings in notebooks as well and I think it is time I post some of my later 2d work just to keep up with the pace of production. Following is a small sample of it (click on image to ENLARGE):

"The place where Greek Gods throw the freesbee", markers and pens on found postcard

"Dancers & contortionists", markers and pens on found postcard (advertisement for dance lessons).

"two girls, one cup(cake)", markers and pens on kitchen roll.

Athens for you, december 2010, no photos, just text

2010-12-22T03:30:00.004+02:00

I've had an odd afternoon, and just now my mac showed an other sign of malfunction, it did not open any of the recently opened tabs neither it had the friendly message that says that "it's embarrassing but they can't retrieve any of the recently opened tabs".
I was thinking of this post while I was taking my late night shower and for a little while I wished I could write as nicely as an acquaintance of mine, whose name I shall not mention now, who writes music reviews weekly. I haven't read a whole text of his for some time now, but I really like the first lines of them I occasionally see on facebook. He always begins his texts in a rather personal way, mentioning this and that about his day or his week, without giving the impression that it is a diary entry. On the contrary, it seems he is about to make a leap soon to an interesting general and subjective issue.
I went to see a screening of a short film for which I made a "special object"; a clown mask. It was a disappointing short film. The production team spent almost as much time explaining what their intentions were and the subject-matter, as the film's duration, so as to, in my opinion, make up for the director's inability to handle the subject in an adequate manner. It was based on real facts (I usually don't give a monkey's ... for like statements when it has to do with art) and it was dealing with child molesters. Yet the audience would have never thought that this was the actual initiative, as they never put their finger on the subject. I could give dozens of other possible interpretations as to what I had seen and it was miles far from real children psychology. I am not sure whether I should mention the tittle because I don't think I want to offer an opportunity for further publicity (if, non-the-less you would like to see for your self please leave a comment and I will give you a link). Added to the above the director made a "mat" movement: as I was about to leave the theatre he asked me if I liked it. I felt uncomfortable and nodded negatively while saying "yes", out of cowardice or politeness. How on Earth does one think that he can get an honest answer if they address people in such a vulgar, straight-forward way?
I went out for a drink with another director (a student actually) and I had a lovely time bitching on how such a bold incompetent could have such an audience (more than fifty people saw it), what needed improvement, and, again, how on earth did they manage to show it in Technopolis, Athens ( a large multifunctional exhibition centre in the middle of Athens housed in an old gas factory with an excessively expensive rent).
After I parted with my recently mentioned companion I took a pedestrian street to go to Psyri to meet some friends. While I was walking there I had an unexpected strong aesthetic experience I would advice anyone to visit (preferably on night hours). Every approximately fifty metres was set a loudspeaker from which you could hear people giving speeches in various languages in a propagandist style. Given the concurrent social situation in Europe, it made a great impression on me. I had heard nothing of a festival taking place there and I was wondering what was going on and how did anyone get a permission to get a permission to do that!!!! When I got at the end of the road I saw a sign with the name of the artist (it was not familiar) and it mentioned something that included the words "dialogue" and "freedom" but I can't remember the syntax. It also mentioned it was speeches of El. Venizelos, A. Hitler, Che Guevara and others. Subsequently I saw a window of a shop that had display dolls with wings formed either from b&w photograph's of children or white cards with the "docteurs sans frontiers" logo. Again: propaganda and capitalism. I walked a bit further and I saw loads of discarded lettuces rotting in boxes on the sidewalk, soft poo that someone had stepped on, a guy on his own in an unclassifiable shop with the blinds half-pulled down, (I smelled first and then saw) two boys smoking something illegal and then, soon, I reached my destination: friends in a bar. My walked had been so interesting that as soon as I met them I started saying what I had seen. A man I don't know so well informed me that the sound installation was put up by fascists (in his exact words) that opposed to loosing their jobs as civil servants. I thought that this was the strangest piece of information! Who were these people? How could they have been fascists if they used such a liberal way of expression? Have they failed or have the meanings been so distorted?

I need to inquire further on that. Never the less, one of my most interesting nights out in this city that usually bores me to death. Please Hepl!!!

Porcelain Sweethurt

2010-12-20T18:01:00.006+02:00

I got this doll from the Sunday Flea Market at Ghazi, Athens, a few weeks ago. It was a fruitful day for doll shopping, meaning I found a few interesting specimens. She was wearing a white bridal dress and she is the first porcelain doll I got my hands on (I have been working with cheap plastic "made in China" dolls so far. Non the less she served the cause as well as the others (to read more about the concept please see the post titled "sci-fi comedy(?)"). Her face has sweet features that contradict her mutated body, as it was made to fit a specific pose, despite the fact that her limbs are attached to the torso with elastic band, was perfect for s&m bondage. I left her original underwear on as well as pieces of glue on her head where her hat used to be. Apparently she is a "surface dweller" or a "surface dwellers volunteer slave. It's up to the viewer to make the connection after I have set the basis. Enjoy.
Click on image to ENLARGE.

miniature restrospective

2010-11-29T16:12:00.009+02:00

A long, long time ago I made these small scale experiments from polymer clay:

"love re-actor: cat", "& Bird",

"Yesterday evening my friend Clara and I waited patiently for God to drop by for some tea".
Click on image to ENLARGE.

Post Scriptum:

2010-11-26T10:08:00.003+02:00

This is not a pristine personal display site, it is a blog with a special button for peoples' comments. Would any of the readers like to open a dialogue on something?

Sci-fi comedy

2010-11-25T15:27:00.007+02:00

During my final show, while I was studying at the Masters course at the W.C.A, U.A.L, I exhibited, among other things, a few dolls that had gone through a process of transformation and were out of place. At some point we had a visit by some externals and a woman, whose name I do not recall, suggested that next time I through the dolls out of the window. In the same space I had also exercised on the "never-ending date project" (explanations on this issue are found on previous posts) that excited her a lot and she expressed her desire to see more of these in the future. I admit that it was my first attempt to work with dolls and it might have not worked as well as expected, in that particular space. The thing is, though, that the "never-ending-date project" has lost part of its charm for me. I can't tell if things might have turned out differently if I had stayed in London. Yet I am now discovering how to integrate dolls in my work and I think that this issue might have "bread" in it for a long period of time. It incorporates a lot of issues I am interested in, like the perverse way that grown ups feel about toys, the deliberate misunderstanding of aesthetics (or the actual lack of them) of consumeristic toys, judgment on standards of beauty and above all my favourite "seen in, seen as" issue as put by Richard Wollheim (link here)
Further more, issues on contemporary pop aesthetics, the mundane in art, working on an existing image (as I do with postcards) and so on and so on.
From a personal perspective, working with dolls, also allows me to move between the edge of art and design (objects of commodity) as I am also making new clothes and accessories for them and I modify their appearance.

Within the above context, I have been flirting lately with the idea of a sci-fi comedy. My narrative takes places in the future, somewhere near the complete destruction of the Earth. I claim that an international government takes the decision that the only way to save the planet is to make people slightly more stupid and slow and more susceptible to ideas of love relevant stuff. To accomplice this, on account of the scientific allegation that the proteins found in meat enabled the cerebral development of the species to its known form, they persuade people to stop consuming food with this kind of nutritional elements. Everybody accepts it and my dolls belong to the third generation or further of these people.
They are divided in three groups: earth-dwellers, sky-dwellers and submarine-dwellers. I have not developed yet the complete psychological profiles for the latest two groups, in-spite the fact that I have already made two of them (photos in previous posts). I know that their clothes will be more towards the steam-punk aesthetics and that they belong to the working class. This is because, in my futuristic Earth, a great amount of polar ice has melted and thus the surface is too limited to have industrial and commercial zones. The remaining Earth is filled with mansions and solaria.
The surface dwellers are decadent fashion victims that are only interested in showing off and gossiping about each other.
The first sample of them is presented in this post. They are a couple of women (I heard somewhere that the nature is becoming more and more feminine and I thought that if I applied that to the human population of my story then maybe in my universe sexes, as well as notions of homosexuality and heterosexuality, will have lost their meaning. Seamen will be found in banks or grow on trees). Within a concept of love and mutual respect they decide to join their lives for ever and carry their child together by joining their limbs as if they were siamese sisters. In these photos they are with their pet-friend. Enjoy. All rights reserved.
Click on image to ENLARGE.

More notebookss and fun (a predominance of blue and black)

2010-11-25T08:30:00.001+02:00

Mr Bigi-Bigi

2010-11-24T15:26:00.002+02:00

I would like to introduce to the readers an old friend of mine, one of the few constructed ones that have a name, and his name is Bigi-Bigi. I named him so because of the sound he would make if he could talk. His is made of paper though and thus never utters a word.
I have had the Bigi-Big notebook since 2003 probably but he was stored for many years and he just came out to play. Therefor there are some old drawings in there (possibly from 2005-6?) and a new one, that has as a subject-matter my latest trend: the depiction of the process of farting and relative ideas.
Click on image to ENLARGE.

Three unreasonable fears

2010-11-22T17:21:00.005+02:00

I have been working on dolls lately, like the ones published on the previous post. That concept is evolving but I haven't gone through the process of photographing the new objects yet. I think that partially I am actually avoiding this; I have always thought the part of photographing the work painful and boring, but by no means stale. It's just that the object, when photographed outside the "white cube" gets rather difficult to handle. What's more, the photographer has to choose all the right corners so as to present the work in a charming and descriptive manner and all these can be such a pain in the ass for someone that is used to thinking in three dimensions and have an aesthesiokinetic perception of the surrounding environment. Oh, crap.
Scanning on the other hand is a boring and stale process but it is so much easier!
So I shall make a promise to photograph the bloody huge amount of work that I have accumulated during the last days and I shall present in this post three drawing I did some time ago ( I don't scan the works that often either).

They are three quickies from my phone-book (that is slowly transforming into a sketchbook). In these drawing I depict three of my most unreasonable fears; I was certain I had plenty to work on but non other of the things I am afraid of was unreasonable.
I shall translate for the non-Greek-speaking readers:
Fear no1: While carrying some pipping hot beverage the handle of the mug or tea-pot might break and, as a consequence, hot liquid will splash on me and everywhere else.
Unreasonable fear no2: The jar of honey might slip of my hands and smash on the ground filling the place with sticky pieces of shattered glass.
Unreasonable fear no3: I might be in a park taking a stroll around sunset when they lock the gates without checking and I get trapped amidst the spooky trees and creepy sounds until the sunrise.

Please Enjoy. (click on image to enlarge)

New Sky-dweller doll

2010-10-29T12:08:00.005+03:00

I have been making these silly dolls' clothes some time now. I probably consider them much more exercises in composition than actual works. Yet, I believe that they might function in an interesting way if placed in the proper contextual environment.
Anyway, I decided that I would work keeping in mind that they should be made within the traditional sci-fi concept. They shall be sky, earth or sea dweller in a post-nuclear destruction universe. She is the third one in the series. To see more look for previous post labeled accordingly. Click on image to enlarge.

2010-10-27T18:56:00.002+03:00

Examining once more the subject of femininity and masculinity through simple symbolism, I pose here, to my self (they are auto-portraits), in the left photograph as a female. I am wearing my breast-scarf and holding my breast-case wallet ( it actually has a zipper and velvet lining and both objects shall be up for sale). In the right-hand-side photo I am posing as a male. The symbolism is profound. It is also an homage to the book "the breast" by Phillip Roth.

Here are the previously mentioned wallet and a cupcake-shaped one posing as breast.

All the whimsical objects together

Work In Progress

2010-10-09T22:24:00.002+03:00

My work as a designer is now available on http://www.etsy.com/shop/theevasivetwat

2010-10-06T10:39:00.001+03:00

New Cuties- Who's cute now?

2010-09-03T12:10:00.004+03:00

"From the unknown"- materials: plastic doll made in china, washing machine liquid detergent measure, buttons, lace, pins, socks, light-cover.

"and back into it"- same as above

"a little fat baby"- materials: tights, Styrofoam balls, pieces of fabric, sunglasses-lens, glass eyes, lace, plastic doll's hands, plastic cord, vintage buttons

Photographic

2010-08-29T12:41:00.005+03:00

"Little girl", tights and cotton filling

My new pet, a sort of rooster-camel fellow. Made of socks and various kinds of filling materials.

sock pills

2010-08-28T09:52:00.003+03:00

"Day reboot pill" -if consumed before midnight you get a second chance for the day.

"False date pill"- my first faulty attempt for the day-reboot pill. Consumption actually causes loss of a whole month.

New mask, new wig, new ears

2010-08-27T12:28:00.002+03:00

The hula girls send their greetings from Hawai and the sleeping swimmers

2010-08-16T12:54:00.004+03:00

more and more

2010-08-14T14:58:00.004+03:00

In the words of Yo la Tengo: Occasionally double or triple. Take it as you wish. I really really like free postcards. These were advertisement for low fat yogurt. It says "double pleasure", in Greek, on the side and up-side down. So I worked in that direction. For more info about the postcard project check previous posts. Click on image to enlarge.

Don't you know it's going to be all right?

2010-08-10T17:32:00.005+03:00

I wouldn't really like to talk about what I did here for a multitude of reasons. Not everyone likes spoilers.

Click on image to enlarge.

Domesticated art

2010-08-09T14:08:00.006+03:00

I realized that I really like photographing house interiors, not living rooms and beautiful bright wide spaces, but kitchens and bathrooms. I also really like stalking kitchen utensils and as expected the art practitioner in me could not resist in to sticking a nose into my otherwise happy domestic obsession. When I thought of making aprons for the kitchen, I decided to make clear allusions to masculinity and femininity. Thus I made the female apron smaller ( I am a small person anyway), with a wide pocket from a fabric with juicy peaches on the boobies. I decorated it with a scull that has a small triangular piece of fake fur on the pubic area. The male-oriented one has a prolonged pocket in front of the penis and is decorated with a wide-headed cute mushroom on the chest. I subsequently photographed worn by people and free standing in my kitchen. For more photos you can visit my flicker at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/gvryttia/sets/72157624686312714/
Click on image to enlarge.

Last days of your cooking

2010-08-09T10:48:00.007+03:00

Presented here are the last two cooking cards. As it has been mentioned in previous posts, these objects I have been working on lately have something already printed on them, usually it is advertising material of pure aesthetic quality. I alter the content by adding colours and elements. They have all been dated in my signature manner. To see the rest of this group check previous posts. Click on image to enlarge.

"Chick-peas"

"mustard rolls"

This does not belong to the previously mentioned group of work. Actually it is the product of digestion, too much heat, small potions of alcohol and boredom. I made it while discussing after a meal with my mother and others. No matter how childish it is, I still enjoy the kaleidoscopic effect of paper napkins and kitchen roll. While making it though, I realized I have made a few drawing that function better when animated of spun around, so I thought of the possibility of presented them on small rotators. The idea is by no means a novelty; it has been used various time since the industrial revolution. I don't now if anyone had tried to spin a painting.. It will definitely be fun in the making.

colour tablet aided

2010-08-07T20:13:00.003+03:00

These postcards actually were a sort of preposition for combination of colours for walls etc. I found them at the colour department of a hardware store. I retouched them in the concept described in the previous posts. They are as usually dated (yet not signed) in my typical signature way. Good luck at telling what was and was not there. More will follow. Click on images to enlarge.

more cooking cards

2010-08-06T12:19:00.006+03:00

Click on image to enlarge.

"Pasta with seafood", apparently

"Potato nests"

"from the four corner's of your plate"

For further information on the cooking cards you can check the content of the previous post.The following card was found at a dreadful posh hotel were I went to participate to a meaningless exhibition around Christmas.
I took three with the intention to paint poo all over the place, but I haven't been in a poopy mood lately. So I decided to draw one of my sleeping swimmers.

"sleeping swimmer dreaming fucq you"

AND THE HEAT GOES ON.

2010-08-04T20:17:00.005+03:00

I found these cooking cards in a box, left for trash, outside a house at Wimbledon. They were quite a few and since I would soon leave I hesitated to take a lot. The cards were nicely packed in small groups and some were still in their original plastic wrap packaging. I only took a small portion. The recipes never looked tempting, but the cheap and obsolete quality of the photographs were intriguing indeed. So were the inscriptions occasionally. Presented here are the first four I used. I claim fair use btw.

I have used mainly permanent markers, felt tip markers and ball-point pens. Click on image to enlarge. For further info check previous post.

"Meat in minutes"

"group 5-pork & lamb "

"fruity lamb stakes"

Post-cards

2010-08-03T11:15:00.006+03:00

Pens and markers on two postcards from "Yuria '09"

Pen on post-card from "Casa"(originally designed by QQ)
Same as above
Drawing and collage next to a recipe for cookies in my phone-book

I decided not to start yet another sketchbook but work on found objects for a little while and go through a "Duchampian" process of "aiding" these. These shall be post-cards, magazines and advertising leaflets. Above are a few examples that stand alone, meaning that the rest I have done until now belong to bigger series and I will present them as a total when they are all done.
I was amazed, at some point when I did a couple of drawings on a completely empty paper, at how easy it felt in comparison to having to respond to something that somebody else designed. Intervening on existing things also felt more meaningful because of that.
I have also started pondering on the possible presentation of such objects, as I consider them important objects of work. Due to their size and their nature though I do not think they can be easily accepted but I think it's worth the effort. Especially since the core of my work is to question the status of what is called "state of the art", through the more global prism of classifying something a art when it disrupt one's normal and habitual perception of the world (I haven't done my homework well enough so as to specify the origin of the previous axiom, please don't prosecute me for infringement).

the end of the 8th notebook

2010-07-20T17:27:00.005+03:00

Heat makes me dis-functional. In all my sketchbooks there is a serious lack of elaborate work in the middle of the Summer. This is not because I enjoy the sea, sand and sun somewhere but, simply, because warm weather decreases my creativity. It is a good season for collage though. Anyway, following(and in reverse order) are the last pages of my eighth and latest sketchbook. To read the general staff about it, you can check the post titled "8th notebook, 1rst load". Click on image to enlarge.

Today for a little while I thought of the possibility of becoming an illustrator instead of an artist. I could possibly become one if I set my mind into it, but I still consider my stickers, sketchbooks and postcards - well, if you'll excuse my language- works of art. I think that they function as such, even though to define the "function of the work of art" is not something I would like to start doing here. As a tutor once told me "all the issues I mention are too generic and global, and maybe I should limit my self somewhat". Anyway, a small story, not by any means linked to what I said above, just for amusement: I dropped by the post-office today to pay my electricity-bill. Having succeeded in leaving the house on this occasion and despite the heat, I thought of taking a small stroll. As I was walking an advertisement on a wall drew my attention; somebody was looking for a female-painter between 18-25 years old. I exceed this age-spam by two years, but I thought of giving it a go. I was hopping it would be some lame decorator that would pay me to make half-assed silly little paintings I would be ashamed to put my signature on, or mention it to my friends. It would be plain prostitution. It proved to be worse. It was a smelly penthouse. The guy was the average Greek bad abstract painter and he said he was looking for a young female painter to produce work that he would be selling along with his own. My fee would be 6-7 euros per hour, and I would have to do a painting a day, within 2-5 hours, no social security included. It sucked big time. Worst things were the smell of the apartment, and the guys alcoholic and derelict look. And thus, I faced my most ethical side again, and declined the offer. Non-the-less, it was interesting to see that such a thing exists. I came back home and kept on with my post-cards.

Are we not men?

2010-07-14T10:53:00.003+03:00

8th notebook. For any info check previous post. Click on image to enlarge.

8th notebook- 4rth load

2010-07-13T08:42:00.004+03:00

Below are six more pages from my eighth notebook. To read about its concept(?) check the post titled "8th notebook- first load". Click on images to enlarge.

8th notebook, 3rd load

2010-07-12T10:23:00.005+03:00

To read about the notebook's "concept" you can read the post titled "8th notebook-first load". Click on image to enlarge.

8th notebook

2010-07-11T11:29:00.003+03:00

For explanatory text please check the previous post.

8th notebook- first load

2010-07-10T12:43:00.006+03:00

Third page. Coloured pens and stuck origami flower. Click on image to enlarge.

Second page. Coloured pens, markers and pencils.Click on image to enlarge.

First drawing. Coloured pens, markers and pencils. Click on image to enlarge.

That's the back cover. It had the picture of the phoenix on it(a symbol used by the dictator's to symbolize the revitalization of the values and principles they considered "correct" and that would save the country from interior as well as exterior danger). I covered it properly and added a couple of comments.

This is the notebook's cover. An idyllic landscape to keep the student cheerful. Just lovely.

I found this notebook in a stationary shop that was closing down. It is a notebook from the period of the dictatorship (1967-1974). Under other circumstances I would have used it as provocative material against those who only claim to be more open-minded and leaning towards extreme leftism. Given, though, the current socio-political & economical situation in Greece I could not put my heart into such a concept. I decided instead to depict a discreet warfare, pretty much like-you know- the real thing. So I chose to keep my usual characters and colours but place them under surveillance by zeppelins, hiding in the country-side or taking a stroll with a gun. I also tried to be a bit more violent colour-wise. I shall be posting four or five pages every time, so they wont be uploaded in the correct order.

No text today

2010-07-09T15:22:00.003+03:00

8-7-2010, Continuing from the last two posts

2010-07-08T12:06:00.004+03:00

Ballpoint pens on "Panda-from Royal" yarn tag

"Coffeblick", drawing on paper napkin.

"Topsy-turvy wee-wee" . pens and markers on sticker. approximately 6 x 8 cm

"Alpine Balloonephant".Pens and markers on sticker, approximately 6x8cm.

It did dawn on me after all that the question I really want to put on the table is if I perceive an object that someone obtains after having attended an art show as a collectible object and consequentially an object of commodity, at the bottom end, then can't an object of commodity designed and made by an artist that has applied on the named object the same principles and values as when he or she is producing a work of art be perceived as a work of art as well? Wouldn't it potentially function in exactly the same way and how important is it to be named and presented as a work of art? Is the thing called "State of the Art" effected always and to the furthest extent by labeling and presentation? I do not wish to try to answer these questions right here and now, partly because I wish to explore the subject through concrete paradigms, and partly because I think that by simply stating them I've made a point.
To be continued.

Everyday I love you less and less

2010-07-06T12:02:00.002+03:00

Pens and markers on found post-card.

Pen on subway receipt

Black, white and silver markers on found post-card

Various pens and markers on recipe card.

My last posted text has a profound failure to reach a conclusion. It made me reflect once more on how much of a cripple I am when it comes to articulating thoughts in a written form. Yet last night it dawned on me that if I keep writing and provided that anyone interested will bother to read the whole thing, the pieces of the puzzle will form a coherent picture. At least I hope that this is how it will function for me; If I collect my thoughts I just might figure out what interests me after all. Then there are all these moments when I have the answer for just a few seconds, but unless I instantly make a note they disappear. Sometimes I loose half of them while keeping the notes. Pathetic. Illumination lasts for seconds.
Anyway, I am trying to recollect the last one. I was thinking that maybe I am trying to undervalue the status quo of contemporary art while simultaneously trying to get a grasp of it. I get increasingly interested in the difference between an artist produced object and an acclaimed work of art. I don't think I want to reach a fixed conclusion though as much as disagree with other people on what is what, even though without concrete examples the discussion remains literary and thus nothing more than a stale amusement for students of literature and language.
Anyway, I don't know who I love less, the commercial boring artists that understand shit, the art-dealers with the same kind of ill appreciation of stuff or the bourgeois fake art collectors. Actually, what I love less is ignorance and disability of perception. And we are not cute.

three months without a post, some thoughts on contemporary apprehension of art and a (con)temporary dog

2010-06-29T12:41:00.006+03:00

This is not a dog. I see a dog. Permanent markers on plastic balloon. Click on image to enlarge.

I have been reflecting lately on the nature of a work of art (a term that by some re-active behaviour I have come to think of as more and more anal) as part of an exhibition. I think that when one visits or sets an art show, he or she should aim at acquiring or creating a holistic experience and not target at looking separately at each individual work. (Of course each work to be exhibited should have its own importance, value and integrity.) I also think that contemporary curators work towards this direction, and I have come to believe that for group exhibitions a single person should take the decisions and have a very good understanding of the works’ requirements along with a good apprehension of space and lighting conditions. I know I am not saying something new but I couldn’t go on without having said so. To return to my opening statement, my latest concern is an idea I created on the work of art as a collectable piece, somebody purchases after having had the whole experience of an art show.

The buyer cannot expect the work to function in the same way ever again since it will be located in a different environment. Some painters would probably disagree but it is the rule for three-dimensional constructions and sculpture.

Subsequently I was thinking that a good paradigm is the case of Christo and Jean-Claude that in order to make money to set a show (a large scale outdoor work) would sell Christo’s older works, drawings and objects that were the media to design the actual one.

But even if me, myself and I (and others probably-the truth is out there) agree on all the previously mentioned, it still doesn’t give a clue about what is the metaphysical substance or function that constitutes a work of art as such. Terry Pratchet has said that surprise is the fifth element (with the other four being fire, water, earth and air), which from everything is composed. It was not my original intention to put my finger on this unsolved issue, but it did pop in my mind. If what the buyers purchase are collectable objects that- well, with an idealistic perception of things and not with economic factors- make a sort of impression on them and decide to spend their lives occasionally observing the object in question, then why? What is that that causes this impression? And if they are collectable objects, to be placed outside their site-specific context why can’t they be just any old objects as well?
The later question seams a bit naïf, and dada comes to mind as the first easy answer. Where do I conclude then? That my questions are so global and repetitive in the course of history that I might as well say “fucq it”?
I fink I'll stop here for the time being but I promise I'll continue at a latter post.

Btw. the dog had a really hard time with the changes of the temperature and is now as small as a light-bulb.

stinker stickers plus two

2010-03-17T14:47:00.003+02:00

pencil and pen on bus ticket. 8cm x 7.8cm

pencil and pen on bus ticket. 7.8cm x 8cm

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. 21.2cm x 20 cm

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. 20.5cm x 1.9cm.

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. 21cm x 11.5cm

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. size A4

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. 9.6 cm x 7.6 cm

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. 10.4 cm x 5.7 cm

various pens and markers on printer paper turned into sticker. 9.7 cm x 7.6 cm

Shower thoughts and Self-portraits 2

2010-03-13T13:19:00.003+02:00

Four more self-portraits. One on a sticker, one on a post-card and two on K's notebook. Click on image to enlarge.

Some people sing while taking a shower. I am one of these people. The other day though, I was taking a shower really late at night and I was really tired and I was thinking a lot of silly stuff and I want to share one of my thoughts. I was thinking about the relationship between music and visual arts, trying to figure out affinities and differences, generalizing a lot. Then I started thinking of a tv show that would function as a radio show. A presenter would ramble about this and that and whatever came into his mind, relevant or irrelevant to what he would choose to show, pretty much like radio producers do. On the screen would be presented works of visual art, instead of films, shows or documentaries. Video art would be allowed, but mostly still images of other works of art, for a certain amount of time. The way of verbal expression and the comments would be as personal as it is on the radio. It would be queer.

Idiots, boredom and immortality

2010-03-06T15:34:00.004+02:00

Self-portraits :

Some time now I have been flirting with the idea of a PhD. After my profound failure to adjust to the British Educational system and yet with the help of numerous people succeeding to finish the darn thing, I have been amusing myself with the thought of taking such a challenge. The truth is that, retrospectively, I always feel ashamed of the things I put in writing. I can't stand my expressions and most of the times the things I decided to write about. I only prove the extent of being a twat.
Retrieving the original subject of the previous paragraph, last night I was thinking that maybe my longed for subject of study, the one that would intrigue me enough and maybe explain some things about me could be boredom. I do everything to amuse my boredom. I make "art" for this reason. I hate people that let me get bored and I have a very short attention-span for things that make me bored. Lately I have been feeling like a looser, more than ever possibly, and I am so bleedingly bored. So, I was reflecting on these issues and then I wondered whether I really want to find a job and have a routine. The answer was, of course, negative. With the danger of becoming even more of a cliche, I will quote Franz Ferdinand: "It's so much better on holidays, [...], that's why we work so as to keep the money", or something like that. I only want a job to make money (and the occasional socializing although this did not cross my mind yesterday, as I was convinced that the chances of meeting interesting people and not complete morons were minimized. It's not that I am more optimistic now, but during the sunlight I don't give a flying poo.
Eventually I made some thoughts on one of the books I considered as the most optimistic, while I was reading it. Lots of people love this book and lots think of it as optimistic. It is "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. The reason that I found this book optimistic is the possibility of the demolition of Earth , by Vogons, in two days. I went crazy over that idea. I kept thinking that all the crap that surrounded me would seize to exist. I also found optimistic the discussion of the world ending in 2012. Quaint idea of optimism.

bye-bye bunny

2010-03-02T12:35:00.001+02:00

My imaginary pet is a lion

2010-02-27T21:16:00.001+02:00

Last night I finished this sketchbook and started a new one. As the notebook itself is of ambiguous origin I made a few thoughts that I wrote down. They are for all my notebooks, though, so it might be the time to share them. Every sketchbook i have worked in, until now, is different in proportions and they also have quite different quality of paper. This allows me to respond in various ways to everyone of them and examine different issues. Further more, it gives me the opportunity to integrate random things in my drawings like the lines if it is a school notebook or the marks left on the bottom page if the leaves are too thin . In a previous post I mentioned that I have started more or less predefining the subject, trying to find one that is broad enough so as not to limit what or how I want to draw.
When it comes to making something two dimensional I am slightly cheating. I started being interested in drawing and painting when I started studying history of art. I was interested in applying some of the ideas I read about. After approximately six years of doodling ( i don't count anything I did before that really worthwhile) I have developed some skills and expanded my understanding and handling of some issues connected to creating images. What I find strange is that I haven't developed in the same way my understanding of sculpture. I don't contextualize with the same easiness. I also find it very difficult to start making something based on an idea. It has to be something I am already familiar with. In other words I don't respond to an idea with a three-dimensional image. When it comes to sculpture, i can't create narratives. The subject-matter of the works derives from the practices definition. Handling of materials, handling of space, punching holes in masses etc. It is not that I have read less about sculpture as much as I seam to perceive that its function is to create a new object that takes real space, in opposition to painting and drawing that depict fictive space. These are my thoughts so far. To be continued i suppose.

more rabbits and rainbows than you should imagine

2010-02-26T11:25:00.005+02:00

and more...

for further info check older posts. click on image to enlarge

more and more bunny rabits

2010-02-18T11:54:00.004+02:00

I started this sketchbook in London and i am now working in it in Athens. It is filled with bunnies and rainbows, which is kind of odd, from a personal perspective, since I haven't quite been in the more peaceful mood. Anyway, it was a nice subject to explore. I've also had the urge to investigate the area of drawing landscapes instead of character design. I did not keep that theme all through the notebook though, as I had various influences whenever i decided to draw. Therefor, I had to put my finger on other subjects as well, merging into my original ideas.
When ideas and leit-motifs merge is a brilliant moment. It makes one think of one's self as less schizophrenic.

2nd sneak-peak inside the 7nth sketchbook

2010-02-16T13:23:00.001+02:00

late 2009 post- 7nth sketchbook

2010-02-13T12:17:00.003+02:00

My strongest obsession, of these i have as an artist, is the one of the medium. In other words, when i find something to do with something i want to be doing only that. I haven't done any sculpture since September, probably. I have made loads of jewelery, bags and clothes though, that i so far refuse to present here. Non-the-less, i kept on with the last sketchbook. It is the eighth. Above are the first four pages of it. Unlike the previous i don't necessarily finish a page in order to go to the next one. This is why some pages have multiple dates, some others non at all and there are themes reappearing. The result of this back and forth is a more substantial sense of integrity. Further-on, the purchase of a new scanner has made the reproduction of the two-dimensional works significantly easier. I started this seventh sketchbook in July 2009

poo-cake bliss for those who seek it

2009-09-23T14:17:00.001+03:00

3-09-2009-10-09-2009, WCA, Main Building, First Floor

2009-09-06T12:13:00.009+03:00

The following photographs were taken in various moments during between late July and early September. It is my latest work in numerous stages, which is why there are images of objects in multiple positions. This work was made in situ, and it was an attempt to explore site-specificity. I tried to respond to the space in exactly the same way I work with papers and notebooks. I chose the assets of the space i wanted to draw attention to and made work accordingly. It is called "softscape" and there are multiple items that participate in the story. The materials are wire, sticky tapes, fabrics and found objects. The things i found mostly interesting were partly the opportunity to organize and transform found objects in a composition that might imply the existence of a narrative, and combine work very crafty and made through a time consuming process with the complete opposite situation, where i avoided completely to hand-stitch anything and just stacked things or bound them together. In regard of personal development, the object i am primarily proud about is the "chair kimono(governess)". This is what i plan to do in the following period. It combines my interest in clothes and furniture as functional objects, and a personal obsession with stitching zippers and making absurd gestures.

The other thing i wanted to explore was how i could present a space that would be constantly in flux. The objects need not be in predefined positions as long as they are all together in a space. On that aspect it my most open-ended work. It could also be presented in almost any stage and it need not be pristine either. I let people in my work space the gets identified with the exhibition space.I am not fond of exhibition spaces anyway. I refused to paint the floor or clean the walls. It would not add anything to the work.

The items are: two birds, one made of wire and fabrics and one made of wire an d sellotape, the chair kimono which is a fabric construction on a found chair, the central core/nest/planet that is an experiment on the idea of an inverted chandelier in a way, the soft scape underneath that insists of found objects and a small wooden shelf on the wall, attached to it with a zipper.

death in august

2009-08-11T11:57:00.002+03:00

I have been allocated with a space inside the WCA building so it is a very good opportunity to explore issues of site-specificity. The plan is to work with the whole space as i work with every piece, so instead of making an object after an other and try to place them in the last stage i add elements all over the place. I keep the sci-fi references and Alice in Wonderland leitmotif.

At this point i should add that i decided that the birds are not ducks, it was a misunderstanding on my behalf. Apparently they are dodos. Last of their kind.

on the duckwalk

2009-06-23T13:06:00.005+03:00

public exposal. i took my duck out in the park.

poo is the colour of my true loves hair

2009-05-10T14:05:00.003+03:00

a sea of poo

I really like cheese, avocado, some shades of blue, sci-fi things, toys, soft things, walking, peebles, Peter Greenaway, french bulldogs, camels, ducks, bears, fish, rabbits.

Enough is enough

2009-05-05T23:24:00.004+03:00

I think these are the last good sketches of the girls I did. I semi-officially declare that this was it. 74 (approximately) drawings, 4 sculptural pieces (the latest one still in progress) and a set of earings of girls and poo since the middle of February. Where will it end(4)?

SKELETONS :THE NEW POO

2009-05-01T13:30:00.008+03:00

Last week i visited some exhibitions around London, one of which was the "Mythologies" at Burlinghton grdns, right at the rear of the Royal Academy of the Arts. It is a remarkable exhibition, to be completely honest i felt intimidated by some of the works which is always a nice feeling, that someone is where one want's to go. It's also free, so one can visit it multiple times. Maybe it's finished though. Not sure about it. Anyway, dealing with this subject- matter and being an exhibition of contemporary art in London it was rather dark. Dark is the new kitch on the other hand. Curators seem to indulge in setting dark exhibitions, and though it is a phenomenon i would be delighted to criticize in the most negative way , i choose to be subjective and admit i enjoy it a lot. Yet it is darkness deprived from the context. It is offered so often it looses the shock value and i shall not continue by analyzing what happens when a nation is visually fed constantly with images of the same kind. no. Still i can't help thinking of some goth friends of mine complaining when during the early 00's bubblegum pop girls went round with skulls, and now we have emo etc. I find it just hilarious. Evolution.

Yet the small dark poper inside me couldn't really resist.

raindrops are falling on my head...

2009-04-28T13:18:00.004+03:00

but i'm a ninja and i don't give a flying poo.

no news/ no news

2009-04-27T00:16:00.002+03:00

ghost of things to come

2009-04-20T15:30:00.002+03:00

postcard - pooper.

Hurray For Poopies.

2009-04-01T14:08:00.004+03:00

Poo-expoitation. This is a much larger sculptural example of what seams to be my favourite subject- matter lately.

materials: stockings, soft stuffing (probably polyester), fabrics, toys.

"slippers for uncomfortable situations", transparent self-adhesive tape, casts of feet size 36 (4)

All objects were photographed in the premises of Wimbledon College of Arts, London.

Experimental- Love and the Return of the thin white poo(?)

2009-03-26T17:01:00.009+02:00

In an effort to experiment with new, more mundane and less time-resistant materials, I came across sticky tapes. My work with them is still in a very early stage of experimenting with qualities etc. I like the idea of working with not really conventional materials and especially gaffer tape has a very interesting industrial texture. So far so good is all I have to say.

"Experimental" "Love" and the "white poo". Found Teddies, fabrics and various sticky tapes.

This one is Experimental,

and this one is love.

And a few more drawings:

2009-03-19T15:36:00.006+02:00

black pen on sticker, size approximately 13 x 10 cm

When I first started drawing these girls my main interest was in the formation of their hair and how this revealed the head's shape and volume. Subsequently I begun exploring the narration, and how it change by the differentiation of elements.

pens on sticker.

My personal interest in sci-fi and pop imagery led to an indulging exploration of merging the initial hair-do with the astronaut's suit and, from a rather irrational perspective, how the astronaut deals with every day needs. This enabled me to insert more and more elements from my stock of images and subject-matters, like poo, sushi, chopsticks, eggs, linear elements and representation of volume.

black pen on printed postcard. Approximately 15 x 10 cm

black ink on printed postcard.

All images are rather small and designed with thin black pens

I-LOVE-YOU-I

2009-03-10T14:36:00.001+02:00

Baikonur postage

2009-03-07T15:25:00.002+02:00

2009-02-25T11:14:00.002+02:00

Little girls with elaborate hair, completely concentrated, with their skinny bodies in a dynamic position , producing massive quantities of poo. Turds, feaces, shit, crap, dungs.

I visited the Takashi Murakami exhibition at the Gagosian gallery at Davies street some days ago. He is exhibiting three big paintings and a kai-kai, ki-ki animation, and there was a poo incident there, that reminded me the pleasure of drawing poo. That pop-like stylized mass, that the only indication that it is actually poo is it's position in relation to the person. One might as well consider them to be something completely different, even edible.

I am currently working on a poo-sculpture. I will probably upload images asap.

exhibitionism

2009-02-20T13:53:00.002+02:00

WIMBLEDON MA INTERIM SHOW INFORMATION:

http://www.bowarts.org/thenunnery/index.php?code=421

fucq (again and again)

2009-02-18T15:40:00.004+02:00

Ophelia's breast. Ophelia was an unfortunate character. She drowned in a river. She was later chosen to be one of the Pro-Raphalites' favourite cuties. Lovely paintings.

Santa- Agatha was another unfortunate case. Her breasts were cut when she refused to give in to a Roman officer's love invitation. So he got back at her for being a christian. She is often depicted carrying her breasts around in a plate.

Ιn Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" there is a quite funny description of adolescent boys' last for girls' breasts; he describes the straggle and eagerness to get to touch them and he says that it was as if they were something originally belonging to them (boys) of which they are deprived, and just want to get it back.

In Corry Mc Abee's "American Astronaut" there is a boy on Mars, that is inhibited exclusively by men that work in the mines, that has an exceptional position because he has seen once a woman's breast. He is known as "the boy who once saw a woman's breast" and his function is to help keep the worker's moral high by describing this experience of his. The phrase he uses for the actual thing is " it was round and soft".

This is the second in my series of breasts and at this point it is yet unfinished. It has a very interesting texture that reinforces the complete experience of the "breastness", if being a breast or felling like a breast is a certain quality. Breasts are interesting. They are indeed round and soft and- most of the times- feminine attributes. A friend of mine once told me that he found himself in a prison cell along with two transvestites and he asked them to touch their breasts, because being a male homosexual he hadn't touched a breast for years so it was a matter of curiosity.

Breasts define mammals. Fish, reptiles etc do not have breasts.

This is Ophelia's breast because of the textile I used and with the elaborate handmade embroidery it alludes to dead Ophelia' s clothes as she floats in the painting of John Everett Milais. Besides, a breast on it's own brings in mind "an unknown violent event " in Peter Greenaways' words, so Ophelia seams like a good victim, definitely more charming than Saint Agatha, who refused a sexual offer while little Ophelia is heart broken for the contrary reasons.

Fucq (fornication under the consent of the queen)

2009-02-17T03:51:00.003+02:00

This is in my address book.

These are in my notebook.

Sketchbook no 5.

meanies

2009-02-15T02:23:00.004+02:00

ok. This doesn't look mean. It probably isn't.

But this could be it's negative persona. With extra super-powers.

This definitely looks mean. Maybe even evil. I kept trying to draw a cat. The thing is I haven't seen a cat for some time now.

Stickers.

I read a book I found quite interesting last week; its tittle is "The Japanese Experience- Inevitable" (Margrit Brehm, Ursula Blickle Foundation, Hatje Cantz, Kraichtal, 2002). It is about the new generation of Japanese Artists like Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, Aya Takano etc. It has a very interesting text by Margrit Brehm, which is an effort to explain were they have come from, what it is they are doing and an analysis of their visual cultural origin, commenting on the fact that they are based so much on tradition. Anyway, her text is far more interesting than any reference I would make to it, so go on, read it for your self. There is also a Takashi Murakami exhibition taking place at the time at the Gagosian gallery at Davies street.

I also visited the Hauser& Wirth gallery at Piccadilly where I saw an Andre Thomkins exhibition, which I also found interesting. Thomkins created paintings he called "Lackskins", and they are made with a technique of his own invention. There are some very fascinating abstract landscape-like paintings and some portraits, and at the basement there is also a video with a pleasant retro black and white quality where the process and its origin are explained. I personally believe that the space on its own and the basement in particular offer an interesting aesthetic experience. If something nice art-wise is taking place there it gets even better. I will have to mention that there is an audio piece as well which is composed by the artist. Just be careful so as to avoid possible infection by the Joseph Beuys drawings that are exhibited concurrently. The exhibition will be on until the end of the month.

2009-01-17T17:40:00.003+02:00

Recommended exhibitions in London: Daan van Golden at the Camden Art Centre: http://www.camdenartscentre.org/

Allan Aldridge at the Design Museum: http://www.designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2008/alanaldridge/?id=100557

Self portrait, sketchbook no 5

Composition experiment, sketchbook no 5.

Don't be confused. This is the way up. The first two images are from the sketchbook no 1 and the last one from the sketchbook no 4.

what a bright day for early January

2009-01-11T22:00:00.006+02:00

This is another version of the princess theme. I decided that the organic form of the breast with which the figure was matched initially was open to too clear and specific narratives. The vertical structure of the cubes contradict nicely the gravitational bind of the "princess" and her relationship with the floor and I also got the opportunity to handle the issue of the cube as a very basic sculptural form. The cube structure seems to have an animistic quality and even though it doesn't look back at the princess, they do form the closed system I intended to create. The composition is self concerned, or at least it can't be bothered with any of the viewers. I think I can proudly say that this is the first completed piece I have made since I came to London.

These three months I've spent at Wimbledon are now giving results. The fact that I gave myself the chance to work simultaneously on many different works helped me link them better and also spread ideas as they were evolving, instead of making a step at the time and then rush to the next piece, and hurry to finish it so that I can go for the next because I had a new idea. I really believe that they are much more complete works and that the ideas I have about what I am doing are crystalizing, without loosing my pace.

The last elements I added were some fine laces my deceased grand mother used to make and that, like every modern greek girl, I always hated looking at, as they were always put unreasonably on every flat surface in the house and under every vase and souvenir. Still, they have a very interesting function within my work, partly because they are so skillfully made that they create a fantastic contradiction to the cruder way in which I stitch and, additionally, because they are so rationally designed that there is instantly created a dialogue. They are also a great source of same elements that shift meaning as they are positioned differently.

Sketchbook. September & October '08.

If Humpty-Dumpty was a ninza-egg nothing would be the same

2008-12-27T00:21:00.005+02:00

Hupty-Dumpty. Another famous "Alice in Wonderland" image, another combined fixation.

This is part of my work space at the WCA MA studios, and most of the cups of cofee i consumed within the last two weeks of the course.

This is small Engelbird. I am fish-sitting, trying not to do something fatally wrong with him.

2008-12-19T04:09:00.001+02:00

http://www.foucault.qut.edu.au/

I got over the "geisha" matter;

2008-12-17T23:28:00.002+02:00

I am drawing samurais now. By the way, this is my bloody Christmas card. Happy new year everyone.

A mad-hatter's tea party and a princess revisited

2008-12-14T16:24:00.008+02:00

These are the major works of the past two months. They are both stories I used to during the previous year. I did this base on the thought that it would be interesting for me to work on a relative safe area while I am in this new and thus not that safe environment. None of them is finished in these photographs. As far as the ''princess'' composition is considered, I was going to combine that figure with the breast-like structure but then I realized that the whole composition was too profoundly organic and this could lead to strange narratives I wouldn't particularly enjoy. I matched her with the cubes instead and since then the structure has evolved a lot but unfortunately I will not be able to have any documentation of that until next year when the studio will open again. The ''princess'' composition is meant to be a closed system of character-like structures that look at each other regardless of the spectator and opposingly to the previous version that faces the viewer. This notion of figurative sculptures articulated in a way that makes them seam to be interested only in them selves and literally ignore the viewer has been used very nicely by Huan Munoz. I had never really been fond of his work when I saw photographs of it but when I went to his retrospective exhibition to Tate Modern the previous winter it was terribly interesting, and since then I wanted to experiment with this idea. Yet this particular series of works has a congruity that makes it hard to tell wether they are different individual pieces or visually self-sufficient pieces that are also particles of a much larger composition. Truth is that I have started working for much longer on more specific ideas and concepts, and my fixations are crystalizing and also are getting more specific.

2008-10-13T23:06:00.003+03:00

Hello, it has been two months and not a word. My life in London is lovely though. I really like the MA etc, I enjoy going to exhibitions, ubsolutely love the river and the overground. Yet I seem to have enormous dificulties with my function as an artist. To be completely honest, all I feel like doing is filling small squares with colours...(And, yes, I did go to the Gerhard Richter exhibition at the Serprentine Gallery). Furthermore, since I don't have my own computer or my own internet connection the least I can do is share some more digital drawings. So, mice it is. I did an analog mouse as well. And some cubes with textiles. Cubes, squares. Elementary. Since my artistic production doesn't have any interest I could try to mention some exhibitions I enjoyed. I saw the Bismouth-Gondry video instalation(?) at the BFI and the Camden Art Centre was interesting. Does anyone want to invite me at a house in the english countryside to do some sheep-watching? And is it true that sheep here go baa-re- mew? Needless to mention the must-see fact of the Rothko exhibition at Tate Modern and the Francis Bacon one at Tate Britain but that's mainstreen information.

multiple obsessions

2008-08-23T23:47:00.001+03:00

2008,

2007,

2007,

2005,

2006
Yuri Gagarin, Sherlock Holmes, eggs, etc.

Crucifixions, harakiri

2008-08-19T19:39:00.007+03:00

Crucifixions, suicidal acts, urine and lentils seem to have been another favourite subjects for sketches and drawings. I really like using this pose; basic and elementary.
I've also been watching, these days, some films by the Maysles brothers about Christo and Jean Claude and I definitely recommend it; as a matter of fact I consider it essential for anybody who studies art and/or history of art. Its been a rather useful experience primarily because it clarifies magnificently that Christo considered the aesthetic values principally important, which is a view that many art historians overlook so as to emphasize to the communicational and thus political thesis of works of art. Furthermore, as a sculptor, that has chosen textiles as my main material so far, I felt a strong affiliation, almost amazement for the way he used them - I have similar feelings about Ernesto Neto-. Moreover he is an extremely skillful painter and his ability to draw, along with a very good knowledge of the material, enables him to plan and present very accurately every project. I also enjoyed a lot seeing how he functioned mentally and last but not least: I want to marry a general's daughter too! Anyone can find interested information about them (some even about Snoopy as well) in wikipedia, and their site is also rather informative.

almost a cheat/ cats

2008-08-18T00:32:00.006+03:00

I took an old notebook of a friend of mine in which I draw every now and then and- well I am not going to publish my latest drawing, which was about a frog- I discovered that cats, among other animals, have been my subject for some works. Therefore it's a nice opportunity to present a series of works that are not connected because they were made at the same period, on the contrary, it is the first time I can actually put some things under the same title and observe how an idea can transform according to the period and more general interest. In one case my cat has a human face. I probably made this drawing during the first months of 2007. The idea of a figure that one perceives as an animal even though the facial characteristics are those of a human, because the body is stretched horizontally and the limbs are equally long, must have come from children's painting. The small sculpture and a drawing allude to ''kappas''- the hilarious feng-shui objects that move their paw mechanically-. These definitely were made first. ( As a matter of fact there is a rather nice small book by Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa named ''Kappa'' that I would recommend though irrelevant at this point). The rest of them, with the big smile and the aggressive teeth obviously derive from the Chessair cat of Louis Carol's ''Alice in Wonderland". I really like drawing teeth. The one on the tree I made a couple of years ago, maybe more, and I'm certain there are more versions of it from the same period and from various materials somewhere... The blue one is clearly dated and it followed one I painted on a white purse at my former job where we had a real cat with real teeth and nails and everything. There is also the digital drawing in the preceding post.

digital (for real news check previous post)

2008-08-11T20:24:00.004+03:00

Digital: these so called paintings, ( I do as a matter of fact consider them paintings; I mean they are not illustration or anything of the kind) or drawings (if anybody prefers this term),were on the one hand the outcome my first contact with computers and, on the other, my first real attempt to organize some thoughts about use of colour, articulation etc with 2-D media. The first one is not on show here, but the oldest of the pictures on show was probably made three years ago. One of the things I really appreciated while making them was the fact that I could save the state the drawing was in at some point and, of course, continue working on it without fearing I might start destroying it, something which is a major issue in my actual work (that being sculpture), where due to the fact that I never plan in great depth of time any work I know only seldom wether the next move will be to the point. Yet as I get to know my matterials better, and thoughts on issues become more specific, this problem is diminished. Does anyone know if the word "plisch" means anything?

News-news/ Tout va bien!

2008-08-07T15:00:00.009+03:00

As you might have noticed from the "about" section I am leaving Thessaloniki, moving to Athens and subsequently to London in September as I have been offered a place in the MA Fine Art course in Wimbledon College of Art which I, of course, have accepted and am going to attend. I really look forward to this and hope to develop both my technical and intellectual skills and make the best of what London and the previously-mentioned college have to offer. Nevertheless, I don't know how often I will be able to create new posts, at least until I have adjusted to the new environment. On the other hand I don't create new posts often anyway but this time it might be even worse.
In other news, I have become a member of an on-line gallery named "artmesh". This is an invite-only site, so I cannot create a link from the blog. Yet as a member I can invite a number of artists and art-fans, so feel free to ask for it.

I don't think I've introduced in this space a set of two works I successfully presented together in a common space (in this case, a room). Their titles are "I didn't mean to kill Steeve Erwin", which is a seven-piece work, and "coronatae" which is a suspended sculpture of variable dimensions, as it has a long soft part of almost four metres that spreads on the floor. "I didn't mean to kill.." has a central piece that looks like a stingray but has allusions to lingerie etc, it also has six or seven smaller pieces that specify the space that surrounds the work; the shapes of these smaller pieces allude to sea-shells.

Rejected / eject

2008-06-21T17:58:00.006+03:00

textiles, wire, bells, threads, polyester soft stuffing.

Lately I've been experimenting with constructions of wire I subsequently cover with fabrics. This is a sheep-like one. There are two pieces of wire that start from its stomach and end to a semi-circle. Due to the softness and flexibility of the wire the weight on top keeps an easily disturbed balance that is re-enforced by strong threads. As a result the object moves whenever there is soft wind and the bells create small sounds.

Le Cock

2008-05-24T21:47:00.005+03:00

140 x 40 x 44cm
various textiles, fishing wire, thread, wire, peebles and soft stuffing materials.
Le Cock is actually one of my first textile sculptures. I made it in the autumn of 2006. It is no longer in my possession but I think that it has some of the properties and issues I still investigate in my work. This was how it was presented in my first solo show in November in Athens. I think I miss it a little.

"The princess layed an egg" & "Domino"

2008-05-10T12:05:00.004+03:00

the breast

2008-02-15T21:59:00.008+02:00

48cm diametre, 52cm height
external materials: wool and synthetic fiber over cotton flowery patterned cloth, wool tapestry
filling consists of soft material

Optimal presentation should be with the work suspended from multiple points of its main body, at a height slightly above eye level with the nipple pointed downwards. At the moment it feels rather intimidating.

The shape of the nipple is an element I have been using lately as I have placed it in a series of works that include over-proportional, absurdly coloured, always inviting to touch nipples. This has been a surprise to me because I have never had any kind of interest for breasts as a form or as a narrative object. Nevertheless, as I said before, I felt intimidated the first time I constructed one; through being instantly recognizable it fulfills the objective of the whole peeping game I make use of in my works.
I also saw Pat Andrea's "Alice in wonderland and through the looking glass" exhibition in which he had made a quite similar use of the breast within his paintings, both as a structural and as a narrative element, although he used them more discretely.

6-2-2008

2008-02-07T22:40:00.000+02:00

this image was actually painted the previous month. I haven't really kept in accordance the production of artworks with their registration in the blog archives. Thankfully I work much more often than I post stuff. One more promise for better updating in the days to come.

Velvet & Cream

2007-12-08T18:41:00.001+02:00

about time we added some pictures from the show. here are some giving you an idea of how the works were presented. thanks to all who came and showed their support; the show is up until tomorrow (sunday 9/12) so if you didn't see it, don't waste time..

solo show coming up

2007-11-07T19:40:00.000+02:00

a solo show coming up called "Velvet and Cream", with gregoria showing sculpture, painting and wall-mounted work in a gallery in Athens. The gallery where the show is, is "Aggelon Vima" (Satovriandou 36, near Omonoia square), open 18:00-22:00 everyday except Wednesdays.
The opening for the show will take place on Wednesday, November 14 at 19:30 and the exhibition will last until December 9. I can speak for gregoria when i say that she is very excited with the prospect of sharing some of her work with as many people as possible, so come and meet us at the opening, or send your friends if you are out of town.

[actual work or presentation may differ from photo]

following is the press release for the exhibition, only in Greek at the moment..

seing in- seing αs

H Γρηγορία Βρυττιά, με την εκθεσή της Velvet and Cream, προτείνει ένα είδος γλυπτικής εξαιρετικά γνωστό σήν αγγλοσαξονική παράδοση από το 1900 και μετά, αλλά ολωσδιόλου καινοφανές για τα ελληνικά δεδομένα. Η γλυπτική με textiles ξεκίνησε από τα εργαστήρια του Royal College την εποχή του Paul Huxley ως απάντηση στις μορφές του design που τότε έτειναν να υποκαταστήσουν διάφορες εικαστικές installations. Και αναπτύχθηκε έντονα μαζί με τις τάσεις της γλυπτικής που υιοθέτησαν έντονα χρώματα μέσα από βαμμένα δομικά στοιχεία.
Η Βρυττιά δουλεύει σε αυτή τη λογική μέσα από δύο ισχυρές παραμέτρους. Αφ'ενός διατηρώντας την σχεδιαστική βαρύτητα των γλυπτών της τόσο καθαρή, όσο θα ήταν και αν τα είχε χυτεύσει σε μέταλλο. Αφ' ετέρου χρησιμοποιώντας τα θραύσματα υφασμάτων αιρετικά, ώστε να οδηγείτον αντιλήπτορα στα όρια της αναγνωρισιμότητας και στην απαρχή των συνειρμών. Τίποτα δεν καταλήγει να είναι ακριβές και οριστικά οριζόμενο. Όλα τα γλυπτά είναι σαν να... μέσα από τη σύμβαση του να θυμίζουν κάτι, ενώ δεν αναπαριστούν τίποτα.
Τα συγκεκριμένα έργα μας παρέχουν τόσο ένα ισχυρό παράδειγμα της λειτουργίας του βιτγκενσταινικού βλέπω σαν και βλέπω σε, όσο και τη λειτουργεία των συμπαραδηλωτικών (connotative) νοηματοδοσιών που μπορεί να ενδυθεί μία οπτική φόρμα και που μπορεί συχνά να καταλήγουν αλληλοαναιρούμενες. Για παράδειγμα γλυπτά που φαινομενικά δείχνουν απαλά και ελκυστικά, μπορεί, λόγω σχεδιαστικής γραμμής ή τονικών σχέσεων, να καταλήγουν υφερπόντως απειλητικά ή και αιχμηρά.
Εν κατακλείδει, η γλυπτική αυτή ενότητα είναι εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρουσα και προχωρημένη, εντελώς ικανή να σταθεί οπουδήποτε στην Ευρώπη.

Ρεγγίνα Αργυράκη - Ηλίας Κορομηλάς, Αθήνα, Σεπτέμβριος 2007

the princess laid an egg

2007-11-02T11:43:00.000+02:00

gregoria is showing her sculpture "the princess laid an egg" at the Fine and Applied Arts graduates' exhibition, held at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki).
The exhibition lasts until 25/11/07

suspended

2007-09-18T15:17:00.001+03:00

This piece of work is different from the ones I‘ve introduced up till now; this is because all the others were textiles given volume through stuffing, while in this case I constructed the inner skeleton with wire and used different kinds of fabrics to cover it. That process gave me the chance to deal with the inner part of a construction of this kind and the parts of it that are hidden and revealed. I have used mirrors, pieces of colored relief glass, laces and the transparency of fabrics.

It is a hanging sculpture, it’s approximately 2,20 m high and the mirror that hangs underneath has a diameter of 35 cm. The main structure hangs from lycra elastic cords and the mirror hangs from strong threads in an angle selected so that one can see the soft white and red, foot-like hanging volumes in the inside. An idea is that there is something going on in the inside, one gets that idea through the pieces of glass and through the fabric, because of the different color and quality of the fabrics used in the inside.

A dialog of materials takes place on that house like sculpture. I used a piece of mirror on one of the sides, (where there is a transparent piece of glass on each of the other sides), to create a dialog with the large mirror and also another spot where the sculpture communicates with the surrounding environment. I’ve used threads that, along with the way the fabrics stretch or remain loose, create quasi-structural relationships. Glass & rough-surfaced beads on yellow elastic threads are placed as small semi-transparent incidents on the main body of the house, similar to the ones created by the lace on the top and the blue fabric on the ball that’s hanging under the mirror. This work focuses on the relations of inner and external space and surface, on differentiated palpation qualities, reflective and transparent surfaces and matters of articulation in sculpture.

There is a limitation on the quantity of colors used; the dominant ones are red, white and a little of the rest basic colors; yellow and blue. The use of color in my sculpture is as important as the choice of textural qualities, because I consider that the works should be approached through their optical and palpation qualities at a starting point. Another work on which I focused a lot on the choice of color is the one that ended being called “piniata”, lately maybe “piniata-work”.

“Piniata-work” is one year old now. It hangs from the ceiling from a strong elastic cord covered with fabric. It’s not as sensual as the house but it has many common aspects and forms, though the aesthetic matters it deals with are rather different. The dimensions are pretty similar; it is 2,18 m high when hanging still, but it is made to bounce a lot, 50 cm wide towards one direction and 35 cm towards the other (when still again). Concerning the choice of colors for “piniata-work”, I consider the use of the black and the white forms important because they function like comments on the work’s materiality through their relations with each other and with the rest. It is a case of identical shapes with specific opposite colors that occur as contradictory entities, to each other and at the same time to the other -vividly colored- textural elements.

painting

2007-09-01T14:15:00.001+03:00

These are three paintings I did in august. In all of them I focused on the matters of materiality. The first two are actually older works which I didn't think were as completely successful, so I decided to rework them. I half-hid parts with which I wasn't happy and added elements with multiple materials and media; furthermore, I worked on multiple spaces, indicated by different means and through articulation. Both paintings are done on hand-made paper from India and their dimensions are close to the typical A1 size of paper (that is something like 50cm x 70cm). The third painting, the dimensions of which are double than the dimensions of the previous ones, is made on a typical industrial thick acquarela paper prepared with plastic colour. Besides various painting media, I have used vinyl tapestry, fabric, carpet, self adhesive tapes, seashells and coloured plastic.

(click on the pictures for full resolution)

domino

2007-08-09T18:50:00.000+03:00

Now this is a much larger piece of work. – In fact it’s the largest sculpture I have made so far; - Its title is “domino”. The initial idea was to make a modular-like sculpture the pieces of which would join with Velcro tapes. During the process I ended up with a far more interesting idea of a large-scale toy-like sculpture. The pieces are actually joined with Velcro in one unique way and the observer can visually roam freely on various small elements that interact. The work deals as well with a strong vertical - horizontal composition. There is also a smaller and structurally completely different piece with curves, which functions as a linear or drawn element opposed to the rest, fixing a relationship of masses. Because of it’s bio-like structures the work finds itself again in the ambiguity of whether it is some kind of creature or an ensemble of creatures and their inhabitance, an architectural proposition or I don’t know what. I believe that what is mostly challenged here is the human scale perception by an object that is not so big in its dimensions. The sizes are: 3.30m length, 1.30m width & 0.60m height

[edit]
Most pictures of "domino" i have, do not really do it justice. This has largely to do with the limitations of small digital cameras and/or the space in which the work is being photographed; placed in a larger context, the work would have a chance of better displaying its qualities. Nevertheless, we are adding two more pictures that will give a relatively better idea of the work's articulation.

Quimper introduced

2007-07-14T16:54:00.001+03:00

This is my latest completed work. It is a rather small sculpture (about 13 cm high, 26 cm wide and 93 cm long); it is named (it is definitely more a name than a title) “Quimper”, because this happened to be the code name of one of the fabrics I used for its construction and it is visibly written on the piece used. This piece was commissioned to me to be offered as a present to a friend who has a very young child, so it had to be proper for such an occasion. I decided that, besides all the visual and sculptural matters that I would consider putting down on a new piece at this time, it should be able at the same time to act as a stimulant for the baby -that the baby would show great interest for all the bright clear colors, the amusing shapes and the multiple tactile qualities. You are free to see the result. So, “Quimper” is one more sculpture based on the ambiguity of whether it represents an animal-like form, or an abstract work of art oriented towards Japanese pottery.

[Quimper gets ready to travel]

Now I would like to present a previous work with similar sculptural issues [another picture of this can be found in the first post]:

This is a yet untitled work. (I avoid giving titles to my works because they can lead to specific meanings and this can be rather disorienting when this is not at least as interesting as the work itself). If it was to have a descriptive title it would be named in a way that would remind some kind of vessel for liquids. This work is almost visually divided in two parts, one of which is mostly horizontal and the other almost vertical. I say almost and mostly because none of these conditions is absolute. The curved element in the center and the use of color are there to maintain the work’s unity, they also maintain inner scale of the sculpture, so it wont collapse visually because of the overstated difference of orientation between the parts. Also, on both sides I have inserted smaller elements to fuel a more vivid visual conversation all around the work and as a factor increasing all over perception.

Τhe choice of textiles is also very important in this work. I had this very beautiful printed cotton fabric with many different designs and colors and I used it in a way so as to draw parallels to the image of boiling water. Lower, I used larger designs, like the small bubbles that rise from the bottom of a kettle at the beginning of the boiling process, then I used fabrics with smaller elements and different color to represent another level of the boiling process -where the movement increases and becomes less transparent; finally on the upper part, there is a cloth in which the colors absorb one another as steam blurs the images that we see through it.