Kleomenis Kostopoulos

I is Another

28 May – 31 Jul 2015 Athens

Following the historical thread of artistic career of Kleomenis Kostopoulos, Thanasis Moutsopoulos believes that with the recent work of the painter “unfolds a personal style.” clarifying that, “But what most likely differentiates the Greek artist from other Europeans is the development of a highly complex multilingual style: With canvases very large in size, Kostopoulos builds up an unimaginably complex appositive painting style. An entire history of painting parades in front of the viewer; from the often black backgrounds – reference perhaps our childhood memories of black and white photography and television, and perhaps a comment on the work of German artist Gerhard Richter – to the layering which follows; from Byzantine themes to expressionism, and from there to pop art and comics as well as video games. Kleomenis Kostopoulos accepts that the perception of painting has changed and uses the processes of TV zapping or Web surfing as component elements of a new vision of painting. If the so-called School of Leipzig in Europe, and the Californian scene, based around Juxtapoz magazine, broke the pre-modern taboo of using a single language in a painting frame by inserting any kind of modifications, Kostopoulos is the first Greek painter who explores the (apparently unlimited) possibilities of this painting blend…”

All Is The Same Road,
oil H2O on canvas,
200 x 430 cm, 2014

At the Alma Gallery, Kleomenis Kostopoulos will be exhibiting works on the theme of the nude portrait. Here the artist “dares to approach the motif of the reclining nude (often not just reclining, but adopting any kind of paradoxical attitude), not exactly destructively or in a profane manner, but with an unmistakable 21st century twist. It is this example which reveals the distinction between Kleomenis Kostopoulos and most compatriot artists, especially painters. It renders obsolete the 80s visual distinction between the representational and the conceptual as it is proof that one can be both. Despite the remarkable tradition of representational painting that has been maintained unbroken for fifty years (with even older roots of course), and often moving between an anachronism and a fear to hurt the basic motif of art history, the nude was set as a conformism. With this exhibition, Kleomenis Kostopoulos submits a proposal…” says Thanasis Moutsopoulos.

Blanche Epiphanie Ignores,
oil H2O and paint markers
on canvas, 120 x 100 cm,
2015

John Bolis writing about the work of Kleomenis Kostopoulos, conveys the aesthetic context of his painting works stating that, “In his compositions, sensitivity coexists with cruelty and humor, the intimate with the obvious, melancholy over internalization of alienation lies in direct opposition to the question of the existent order. The direction of the works, in relation to the presence of disparate motifs – from comic figures, images of the human brain or a dog, to the sculpture of the “Dying Slave” by Michelangelo or the iron bars of a prison – which coexist in such a form that they clearly contribute to the final image by increasing its immediacy and strength of expression. A whole world emerges in the extension of reality, of experiences, and memory; a world ambiguous and open to approach, connections and interpretation, an unpredictable scene from human life, that works allegorically in opposition to modern realities, seeks and requires the involvement, complicity, and the viewer’s reaction.”