Stelios Karamanolis
Recharging The Void
April 11, 2019–May 18, 2019The Breeder, Athens
The Breeder is pleased to present a solo show by Stelios Karamanolis titled “Recharging the Void”.
“Producing art within the realm of abstract painting, Stelios Karamanolis’ creative practice embraces seemingly adventitious components, such as raw canvases, pastel colors, muted ground, geometric structure, and figurative compositions. Wavering between positive and negative space, the artist strives to juxtapose elements of sophisticated and symbolic information with parts on canvases’ surface that are still available to use and at times left empty. Karamanolis’ subjects are executed in serenity, while his palette is eclectic; incorporating remarkably monochromatic sandy-colored surfaces covered by earthy tones. Although his compositions reflect an ambivalent narrative, Karamanolis’ subjects obtain a considerable quality of lightness enabling the viewer to comfortably feel engaged with his abstract configurations.
Considering his recent body of work, the resulting images render each composition with a generous architectural value. His very recent series of work showcase subject matters that also flirt with concepts of surrealism and minimalism. He is developing ostensibly inexpressive biomorphic forms yet not impassive. An array of shapes with polyvalent interpretations and beastly figures resembling animals construct his beautifully codified imagery. Karamanolis composes a schematic pattern of contrasting figures and silhouettes that convey a significant reductive style. They are carefully arranged as free-flowing, yet they can be visualized as placed in beautifully orchestrated positions. This iconography is converted to abstract signs that allow the artist to build an archetypology of shapes whose meanings vary according to the surrounding context. On one hand, Karamanolis’ images function within creative obscurity and, on the other hand, his approach encompasses manifold ways of comprehension, providing solid alternatives with an untroubled and refined coherence. Close to the airy abstraction and softer surreal qualities of Joan Miro and the mysterious symbolism of Wassily Kandinsky, the artist’s intellectual tracery on canvas explores new innovative directions in contemporary art.
Most of his new work presents a group of various compositions on the same canvas. However, in some other untitled paintings, one large depiction dominates the surface along with more dynamic hues, shades, and lines. Larger-scale formations with multiple angles or unequal sides might be reminiscent of animals, building, human beings or even metaphoric emotional states which all are engagingly interconnected. Karamanolis’ pictorial vocabulary beholds a visionary potential and resists becoming complete vague or non-objective. Anonymity next to his painted perplexity confronts a clear visualization that may attempt to underline a spiritual or subconscious dimension on his art aiming to explore potencies of simplicity and clarity. Therefore his pictorial space is mindfully captured; rather than just developing pure abstraction, the artist seems to dismantle conventional depictions of representation also ensuring that his painting eventually reveals a considerable degree of abstraction”.
-Yannis Kostarias
Born in Athens, Stelios Karamanolis (b. 1977) lives and works in Berlin and Athens. He graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts in Greece and the Hildesheim University in Germany. Recent shows include; As we gather. Fast, tireless, quiet, solo at Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam; Parallel Second, solo at The Breeder Playroom; Self-Hypnosis, with Panos Papadopoulos, Kunstbüro, Vienna; The same sky, Lepsien Art Foundation, Dusseldorf; Painting Today, Vogiatzoglou Collection, Athens; In The Studio, Kunsthalle Athena, curated by Daily Lazy Projects, Remap4, Athens; Hope – Kibu, Nerima Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
