Konstantinos Patsios ‘Deep in the forest we meet’
21st June to 10 th July, 2022
Varvara Roza Galleries
Gallery 8
8 Duke Street
St. James
London
SW1Y 6BN
Varvara Roza Galleries and The Blender Gallery are presenting a major solo exhibition of artist Konstantinos Patsios, titled ‘Deep in the forest we meet’. The exhibition runs from 23rd of June to 10 th July at Gallery 8,8 Duke Street, St James London.
The oeuvre of Patsios is a synthesis of several painting metaphors, from conceptual art and expressionism to Pop Art, all delivered with a playful mockery and irony, and an invitation to critical discourse. ‘Deep in the forest we meet’ will feature paintings and collage as well as NFTs of the original artworks.
Through a selection of collaged artworks and painting on canvas, Konstantinos Patsios proves that he constantly evolves his expressive dexterity using a multitude of visual styles and references drawn from the history of art, comics, and the contemporary consumerist universe. With sharp narrative compositions that suggest modern palimpsests, he vigorously renders the contemporary deluge of the information of image.
His works come from three different periods: experimentation in black, where harsh contrasts are softened by the familiarity of his narrative compositions, often accompanied by political allusions; the shift towards colour and vivid contrasts where colour and collage balance, highlighting their multiple protagonists; and finally, the most deliberately talkative period of comics exploring their relationship – or rivalry – with painting.
Artist Konstantinos Patsios comments:
“My work is a synthesis of several painting metaphors, from conceptual art and expressionism to pop art, all delivered with a sense of mockery and irony, and an invitation to critical discourse. Although they may seem naïve at first sight, I think there is a strong underlying political dimension in my pictures. I use a variety of expressive media, from painting, sculpture and photography to large-scale installations. Art and especially image have their own rules: they go beyond paint, brushes and paper, to constitute a narrative.
Psychoanalysis is not sufficient by itself to interpret an image. A piece of art provokes aphorisms and coincidences. It may not be in itself a cause for war, but it will always be a mirror. One of the principles in my work is the synthesis of non-matching materials, data and the completion of an unequivocal picture. Another personal obsession has to do with confusion: sometimes when the narrative is tiring to my viewer, I juxtapose a tangled mess in order to stop thinking and start seeing! I would like my work to form a new field of thinking where all contradictions are resolved and a new type of harmony governs both the visual and the logic!”
The final composition is a long and pre-planned process in Patsios’s work – despite the fact that the element of surprise is always present. Having initially selected and used materials (postcards, posters) that he himself has collected from his personal quests, experiences, and voyages, he then over-paints them, transmutes them and reconstructs them on canvas, thus transforming the painting into a practiced organism.
In this way, memory functions both individually and collectively, since by reconstructing his own experiences, the artist creates a new narrative that from now on concerns the collective memory. In a manner similar to the mechanism of memory that – at times confused, and at others with clarity that almost reaches obsession – dredges up impressed images into the present. One discovers in Patsios’s images, fragments, impressions, colours and messages that are seemingly disparate, yet essentially perfectly homogeneous.
Varvara Roza Founder and CEO of Varvara Roza Galleries says:
“I came across Konstantinos’s explicit work during my collaboration with Jason Theophanidis and The Blender Gallery. From the very first moment that I familiarized myself with his artworks and artistic oeuvre, I was absolutely impressed. His art is a way to envision and interpret life through enigma of dipoles: male and female, cause and effect, form and content. He manages to convey strong social and political messages through his body of work in a way that challenges the viewer to decipher the impulses that normality does not allow to emerge. I am really looking forward to working with Konstantinos and presenting his work in London, a city which is one of the most important centers of the contemporary art world and a global hub of fine art that will embrace and bring out the best of Konstantinos’s artwork.”
Jason Theophanidis, Founder and Director of The Blender Gallery says of this new exhibition:
“Konstantinos is the first artist I approached when almost a decade ago The Blender Gallery was born. He participated in our very first exhibition “Moments Of Becoming” in 2013, and ever since has been an indispensable piece of our artistic identity as a gallery. Extremely productive and in absolute control of where his artistic practice ought to take him at each stage of his career, Patsios never ceases to surprise me with his art, the visual language of which could be of no one else but his. He pairs humour and mockery with a deep knowledge of history and current affairs, and he is always deconstructing and simultaneously paying homage to Old Masters. I think he is a genius artist, and so do his collectors, so I am always proud to present his new work.”
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©2022 Varvara Roza Galleries, Konstantinos Patsios, The Blender Gallery
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