Giannis Tsaganos

Since my adolescence, when I discovered what I was really interested in, what I have always wanted to do was and still is to paint. Painting gives me the opportunity to start something from zero point and make it a complete work of art, depending on the feelings that overrun me during the time period of realization. Before my work reaches the point of realization, the primary step is the choice of a thematology that expresses me, according to my opinion. The subject is the motive for the selection of the technique and the material that will be used, so that the achievement of a satisfactory result will be eased. My current work results from musical hearings which surround me, either they come from personal choices and experiences or are the stimuli from the daily exposition to television. These hearings urge me to get occupied with two forms of art simultaneously, painting and music, giving visual shape and form to melody. The realization of these artworks aims at provoking the spectator to explore the uniqueness of my emotions during the time of my creativity, so that he can experience this uniqueness or part of it, too, if that is possible.

Biography: Giannis Tsaganos was born and raised in Athens, Greece by a mother whose great interest in any kind of artistic expression was definitely transmitted to him. Therefore, after high school, his inclination to painting urged and assisted him to make the decision to follow the path of art. He started his studies by attending classes of graphics in a private school and he went on to attend classes of Fine Arts and Technology, where he gained the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) of Middlesex University. He has also attended seminars on sculpture and photography, thus obtaining spherical knowledge and scope of the artistic field. He worked by the side of a well-known Greek painter for two years, continuing to enrich and raise his artistic identity. He has been a collaborator at the Spazio Schizzo Momento, a company which promotes and sells works of art. After that, he has worked on projects dealing with the artistic decoration of products for a number of companies and small industries. He is occupied with a variety of topics in his painting, with the human depiction having the dominant place. The figures in his works originate from the world of mystery and imagination, being imposing, cryptic, often weird, sometimes intensely coloured, sometimes being monochromatic. He often makes use of symbols springing from worlds that have been long lost or signs of a future reality. Colour and design co-exist in harmony, easing the spectators’ vision to wander on and over the painting and gradually discover the hidden elements of the composition. The hybrid figures, the fairies, all the creatures of a subconscious mythology which are present in his painting denote the productive influence of the artist by the works of Bosch, Dali, Giger and Koen. He penetrates the microcosm of the human body and the engineering structures thus portraying and composing pictures of vigorous colouring and strict space organization. His art thematology also contains still life (vanitas, chess patterns, musical instruments), landscapes, abstractions, while he is also concerned with the representation of ancient Greece. His sculptural works and his structures, where the human figure also dominates are remarkable, too. He uses a variety of materials, like airbrush, acrylic colours or Indian ink in his paintings. He has taken part in a number of group exhibitions in Athens in the past 4 years. Since August 2007 he has his works displayed in a gallery in the area of South-West Greece called Mani, while in March 2008 he had his first individual exhibition in the art gallery Manifactura in the centre of Athens.

Country: Greece

E-mail: basementartstudio@yahoo.gr

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