6:02 PM: in 2017 i made a series of abstractions inspired by our creeks and by my studies of archile gorky’s works. above LEFT: rain, 38x36”, and RIGHT: sweet, 36x36” both are in acrylic, crayon, gouache & collage on paper. my journey into abstarction in 2017 followed on the heels of my 16 years of realist work in greece. well, maybe not on the heels…my years in greece were 1963-78. so there’s a 40 year gap there! you might say i picked up where i left off during the years preceding my european adventures, when i was living in nyc and making large abstractions in my 9th st. studio.
truth is, i’m as comfortable making realist paintings, like the one you see reproduced in the athens voice, BELOW as i am in my abstract works. it’s all painting! and how on earth do i talk about this when ukraine is happening? i think about the artists who lived through both world wars. braque actually fought & was seriously wounded in the war, never the same afterwards.
so, for example, in watercolor/collage 12, (RIGHT) which was completed last week, there is a melding of the two which was not intentional. it’s simply how my enthusiasm over the costumes, colors and movement present in the celebrations following the 2020 tokyo olympics, expressed itself.
my 2010 painting of monastiraki in athens, which was shown at my 2010 solo show at skoufa gallery in the Kolonaki neighborhood
12:34 PM: during a visit to athens in 2011, I was asked to write a short article accompanying the reproduction of my painting of monastiraki, at the foot of the acropolis, for the summer edition of the athens voice magazine.
this and other paintings with an athenian theme were shown in my 2010 solo exhibition at skoufa gallery adjacent to kolonaki square. in the photo of me, i’m standing in front of another painting from the exhibition, this one of athens university.