What Is Contemporary Art?

(I) oil on canvas - 90 x 60cm

(II) oil on canvas - 64 x 44cm

Those two parts of What Is Contemporary Art? series is an introduction to the Letter Art by putting a simple, but at the same time very controversial, question on the art table. The answer seems pretty clear but it is very blurry if you come ''closer''.

Last Supper?

oil & collage on canvas - 90 x 50cm

Was Jesus one of the first anarchists?

This imaginary party combines the past with the future. The use of the question mark in the title captures the wonder of existence and implementation, the continuity of an utopian situation which seems to be the future, but in which reality, where and with who?

Every last supper has its ''Judas''.

Compass (Homage to Wassily Kandinsky)

oil, metal, sand, brick, feathers on canvas - 62 x 62 cm

This painting is a homage to Wassily Kandinsky's geometrical analysis, which influenced the way that points, lines and levels are applied on a canvas and the meaning they have. Moreover, it was an innovative analysis for the general art movement of its time.

According to Kandinsky, each part of a canvas is not the same, in terms of the tension it has. The right low corner, has the biggest tension, where the objects are ''trapped''. On the other hand, the left upper corner is the calmest one, where open space and freedom are vivid. Kandinsky resembled the four sides of a canvas, with thre sky (north), the road/freedom (west), the ground (south) and home (east).

Super-human

oil on canvas - 78 x 90 cm

''The only thing we have to fear is the ‘culture of fear’ itself''. Initially motivated by the high popularity of a Nazi political party in Greece, this artwork deals with ''the culture of fear''. What is the ''super-human'' willing to sacrifice during its internal fight against fear?

Mine

oil & manila rope on canvas - 76 x 51 x 6 cm

My kid, My son, My child, My daughter, My baby, My, My, My...Nobody is a property of anyone. 

How much advantage do we take of the fact that a 5-year old kid cannot survive on its own?

Last Image

mixed media (oil & collage) on 3 canvases -  90 x 42 cm

This triptych creates a meeting between a kid and a soldier who have switched their natures. How much in common do they have? Two nations got two heroes. Two individuals got nothing. But they both experience the same ''last image''.

Yellow, Red, Green, Blue, Black...the creation of a painting

The oil on canvas ''Der Einzige und sein Eigentum (the Ego and his Own)'' included the painting of 240 flags (238 country plus 2 political ones) and the word ''I'' in 75 different languages on top of them. Each individual color was fully painted on the canvas, following by the next one. The order was light to dark colors, as it comes by the following photos.

The completion of this painting was, simultaneously, a geographical lesson. Lots of known, strange and stupid conclusions were made. The first ones that comes into mind are the following.

- 16 of the countries have the UK flag as part of their own one, as a result of the colonies history

- The most colourful flags are the Africa ones, where GREEN plays a vital role.

- The colour that dominates is RED

- The most complicated symbols exist in Asia flags and in the ones of islands.

- Only the following five color have been used for the main body of the flags (no grey, brown, purple, pink, etc).

          Step 2: Red

    Step 1: Yellow

    
                                                                            

                                          Step 4: Light Blue

Step 3: Green  

                                                                     

   

                                          Step 6: Black

 Step 5: Dark Blue
                                                                             



                                                        Step 8: Art
 
   Step 7: Symbols                

      

                           

''Der Einzige und sein Eigentum (The Ego and His Own)''

oil on canvas -  91,4 x 122 cm

My ego is property of my own and of nobody else. I do not belong to any country, family or religion. I belong to myself and I am the only owner of me.

A group of people, in any form (country, society, family, religion), is consisted of individuals and it depends its existence on those. Therefore, it cannot exist without the individuals.On contrary the individual does exist without it. 

The title of this artwork is from Max Stirner's homonymous book ''Der Einzige und sein Eigentum'' (translation ''The Ego and His Own''), first published in 1844.

''Walkers''

mixed media on paper -  65 x 51 cm

''Walkers'' is a mixed media artwork (oil painting, photography & collage), dedicated to some of the greatest artists who changed the history of art throughout centuries, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Marcel Duchamp. Taking place in Bergamo's Citta Alta (old city), this piece of art also criticizes the commercial approach of art in our times.

''Bubbles''

oil on canvas - 50 x 32 cm

The main theme of this painting are the bubbles people put themselves into, in order to avoid facing reality. These bubbles are created by ourselves or by any form of society (family, friends, state, etc.) with people having personal benefits or being unable to realize and resist.

''Is stupidity a crime?''

oil & acrylic on canvas - 35 x 24 cm

This painting is critic and sarcastic about the decision of greek people to vote a nazi friendly party (Golden Dawn) during the greek parliamentary elections on the 6th of May 2012 (Golden Dawn received 6.97% of the greek electoral body) and on the repeating elections on the 10th of June (6.92%), giving them 18 representatives in the greek parliament.

The initial inspiration was a poster on the walls of Belleville district in Paris, showing a policeman kissing a homeless guy with the quote ''Poverty is not a crime''.

''Experiment in Berlin''

            

      

                      mixed media (oil & collage) on four canvases - 90 x 120 cm

This mixed media is trying to create an imaginary artistic experiment in one of the most experimental cities of the world. Unconventional artists, philosophers, musicians, writers and others are meeting on an urban landscape, with vivid reference to the german culture and history. In every corner there is a hidden concept and a secret, looking forward to be revealed. 

Each canvas is connected with the adjacent ones, creating a unique artwork, but at the same time it can be seen independently.

Still Life Study

        

      oil on canvas - 30 x 42 cm

oil on canvas - 30 x 40 cm

Lost

 

 

In jouw ogen ben ik verzonken

In jouw storm ben ik verdronken.

 

De storm is nu voorbij.

 

Doch, Uw stilte regent steeds in mij. 

 

 

 

 

''Billiards and cigarette''

oil on two canvases - 60 x 85 cm 

This painting depicts the human society as it is constructed today, resembling it with a billiards game. The game is on, but there are some rules, as always. There is only one ball, the earth, and two holes. The first one is a typical billiards corner hole. The other one is a gap on the front side which will transfer the game outside the conventional table. There is a time limit as the cue has been transformed into a cigarette. People are watching in the background.

The initial inspiration of the painting was by the homonymous novel ''Billiards and a cigarette route'' of the independant writer I.K.V.

''Globalbility Map''

mixed media on wood - 37 x 75 cm 

''Globalbility Map'' is a depiction of the world atlas where continents have changed positions. The position of a continent does not matter, nor the position of the adjacent ones, as long as we are all individual human beings. Moreover, all continents as connected creating one and only territory, where stereotypes do not exist.

In order to create this map, an ikea drawer was scratched and painted with acrylic colour. ''Globalbility Map'' was made for the needs of Globalbility Project (http://www.globalbility.org)

Madonna expression of Sorrow and Hope

 

My latest painting on canvas

''Philanthropy''

oil on canvas - 60 x 45 cm

Poverty cannot be solved with charity and philanthropy. 

This painting is an ironic image of the philanthropic action of big companies, in order to increase their popularity and their sales. It also criticizes the invented ''needs'' people have in the 21st century.

''Friends on the beach''

oil on canvas - 65 x 51 cm

''Which skeleton is hidden in my closet?''

oil on canvas - 55 x 40 cm

The inspiration of this painting was an Allen Ginsberg's poem, where at some point he says:

''Beauty, truth, revolution...Which sceleton is hidden in my closet...''

I found this rhyme, really inspiring and I decided to try to represent it on a canvas. The curtain without a window represents the irrationality of the forms of society and consequently of the human species.