'SILENT NATURE' Berlin 2012- Link New Work section
Introduction by Dr. Eleftherios Ikonomou, Director of the Hellenic Foundation of Culture in Berlin.
21/01/2012
The Berlin subsidiary of the Hellenic Institute of Culture is especially pleased to introduce the Berlin audience to the recent work of Stavros Kotsireas, an artist who can look back on numerous solo and group exhibitions and has represented Greece at a number of important international exhibitions and festivals.
Having worked as an artist for the past three decades, Kotsireas has already built a body of work, as indicated above. It goes without saying that the work of an artist who has been creating art for such a long time is inspired by experimentation and new ideas, continually exploring new forms and styles. In my brief introduction I would like to dwell on the most recent creations of Kotsireas’.
Looking at his paired artwork, one cannot help but look for the binary principles that define them. My attempt would be as follows: inspiration-creation, object-image, nature-art, reality-mimesis. Kotsireas’ work addresses fundamental questions about the nature of the artistic process: Do I copy, or do I create? Is there a reality (of nature) outside of its perception and representation? Should I hide or reveal the process in which my work is created? But even beyond its philosophical content, Kotsireas’ paired artwork makes a clear reference to the manner of artistic representation, creating a dialogue on the topics with which the artists, or rather the craftsmen of art, are concerned: sculpture or painting, object or representation, realism or abstraction? In parallel with these binary topics based around the philosophical content and form of construction of his work – which the audience perceives, possibly before anything else – is the aesthetic pleasure derived from Kotsireas’ sometimes playful combinations. It is clear that the artist has a magic hand, that something special you need to transform some dried brushes, paint, stones and brush strokes into a balanced composition with an aesthetic value, and to create “fine art”.
There is one further reason for my pleasure in the present exhibition, more self-interest than the promotion of a Greek artist in Germany; that here at The Hellenic Foundation of Culture in Berlin, we will all have the opportunity to simply enjoy the work of Stavros Kotsireas.
Dr. Eleftherios Ikonomou (Director)
Having worked as an artist for the past three decades, Kotsireas has already built a body of work, as indicated above. It goes without saying that the work of an artist who has been creating art for such a long time is inspired by experimentation and new ideas, continually exploring new forms and styles. In my brief introduction I would like to dwell on the most recent creations of Kotsireas’.
Looking at his paired artwork, one cannot help but look for the binary principles that define them. My attempt would be as follows: inspiration-creation, object-image, nature-art, reality-mimesis. Kotsireas’ work addresses fundamental questions about the nature of the artistic process: Do I copy, or do I create? Is there a reality (of nature) outside of its perception and representation? Should I hide or reveal the process in which my work is created? But even beyond its philosophical content, Kotsireas’ paired artwork makes a clear reference to the manner of artistic representation, creating a dialogue on the topics with which the artists, or rather the craftsmen of art, are concerned: sculpture or painting, object or representation, realism or abstraction? In parallel with these binary topics based around the philosophical content and form of construction of his work – which the audience perceives, possibly before anything else – is the aesthetic pleasure derived from Kotsireas’ sometimes playful combinations. It is clear that the artist has a magic hand, that something special you need to transform some dried brushes, paint, stones and brush strokes into a balanced composition with an aesthetic value, and to create “fine art”.
There is one further reason for my pleasure in the present exhibition, more self-interest than the promotion of a Greek artist in Germany; that here at The Hellenic Foundation of Culture in Berlin, we will all have the opportunity to simply enjoy the work of Stavros Kotsireas.
Dr. Eleftherios Ikonomou (Director)
