IF I COULD I WOULD - ALEXANDROS VASMOULAKIS IN ATHENS

** a while ago i mentioned we will be hosting a series of posts titled "if i could i would", describing exciting, interesting and unique art projects and exhibitions that are too far away, or for any reason unapproachable. sit back and enjoy!**

i have written before about the work of alexandros vasmoulakis{s}. he is a greek artist, whose worked in berlin too. i became familiar with his work by romping around athens some years ago as an architecture student. he was, at the time at least, known mostly for his grand murals. they are marvelous pieces that color giant bare walls in the city center. they mostly portray women in a caricature-like style, but oddly also realistic in its own way. his technique resembled that of a collage, taking bits and pieces of images and assembling them into one large mural.

{alexandros vasmoulakis - before her, voyeurs close their eyes - alexandros vasmoulakis online}
later, i became even more familiar with his work through research and an online interview i had done for a project. he was extremely kind in taking out the time to answer my questions back then, and even more so now to keep me on a mailing list letting me know of his new projects and exhibitions. in december he hosted a solo exhibition titled "my eyes are seeing you".

these paintings resemble older works and can be unmistakably taken as alexandros' oeuvre initially because of the coloring{t}. i feel his work always contained these beautiful bright yet soft colors, easy and pleasing to they eye, even when the subject is more morbid. this time, he has taken the collage method to an entirely different extreme however; if possible, it has become even more exciting to observe the paintings and catch your eye trying to disassemble the bits and pieces that form the whole.

{alexandros vasmoulakis - the last romantic} in addition, there is a characteristically surreal feel to them. many of these latest works, are synthesized and thematized in a way that bring to mind works of salvador dali, especially his oversexualized sketches i had seen one spring in berlin{u}. what is more, this piecing together of layers and images can't but make me recall cubism. vasmoulakis' works in "my eyes are seeing you" seem to have broken perspective and time in their reassemblance - a result cubists must have been proud of. a

{alexandros vasmoulakis - a free glimpse of things that the most jaded voyeur would have paid a small fortune to watch - online portfolio} in fact, he seems to have drawn references from the cubists on multiple levels{v}. to illustrate my point, in the image above titled "a free glimpse of things that the most jaded voyeur would have paid a small fortune to watch" the half moon, banana-like object in the middle, coupled with the naked lady above in a suggesting pose is reminiscent of picasso's "demoiselles d' avignon" (seen below).

{pablo picasso - demoiselles d' avignon - pablopicasso.org} interestingly, art historians {w} have found picasso to have drawn inspiration for this particular work from el greco's "vision of saint john"{x}. observing vasmoulaki's paintings while thinking about continuity can draw the viewer even deeper into them.

so, for all of us stuck anywhere but athens, this was a small recap of this exciting new exhibition of a young greek artist. it is a step further from his initial works, allowing us, even if just online, to view the continuity in his works as they evolve from outdoors to indoors, and from building scale to room scale.


{s} see the first article posted on s/ch about alexandros' work
{t} see older works by alexandros on his online portfolio
{u} also see the salvador dali museum, berlin - permanent collection
{v} "picasso and the spanish tradition", jonathan brown, yale university press, entry by robert lubar
{w} for more information see "picasso and the spanish tradition", jonathan brown, yale university press
{x} vision of saint john, by el greco, currently in the metropolitan museum of art, new york.

disclaimer: all images displayed are linked from alexandros vasmoulakis online portfolio, and pablopicasso.org. none are used for advertising or other monetary purposes. for rights to these images please see respective websites