Untitled

2016 - Painting (Painting)

Acrylic on canvas

Apostolos Georgiou

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Untitled (2016) is characteristic of the artist’s practice. Apostolos Georgiou invites us into a scene of cinematic tension. In the foreground, a man is kneeling with his hands on his head. One can feel the man in the painting tremble. We see neither the face nor the weapon of the second man. The proof of the crime is absent, as if the threat is psychological and moral, rather than physical. This painting imagines a representation of a balance of power. We see the consequences of a world in crisis, a failing system on several levels: human relationships, between a Greek government and its citizens and the demands of Brussels vis-à-vis Greece.

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Inescapably political, Apostolos Georgiou’s paintings are realized by bold and mastered brush strokes. The figurative work does not dwell on details, his characters have modestly composed faces but their expressions are vividly present, offering multiple interpretations of each painting. The scenes depicted are both timeless and contemporary. There are many men, Westerners in costume who seem to be searching. Situations are never explicit and are often absurd. These men are embarrassed. One is almost in scenes of drama of a tragi-comic genre. The compositions of his paintings are large, inviting the viewer to plunge into the scene. This work is an oeuvre of modern man, one who tries to escape the feeling of anxiety and solitude caused by the incomprehension of the surrounding environment. The maelstrom of the financial and climatic crisis, wars, and population displacements is continuously and aggressively pushed by mass media, and it is through this that we can witness a man lost, submissive or fleeing his fate.

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Colors:

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• power.n.01
• oppression.n.01
• inequality.n.01
• control.n.01
• exploitation.n.01
• agony.n.02