GEORGE STAMATAKIS
ATMOSPHERE
14.10.2021 – 15.01.2022
On Thursday, October 14th, from 18:00 to 22:00, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center presents George Stamatakis’ solo show, titled Atmosphere.
The exhibition will run until January 15th 2022.
George Stamatakis, in his first solo exhibition at the gallery, continues his engagement with landscape painting, taking yet another step forward in the experimentation with his media and materials. The -surprisingly- familiar to all subjects he presents through the imprinting of his memories in paintings that resemble polaroid photos, this time seek to awaken the viewers to the threats of atmospheric pollution.
Diluting the white oil paint that he uses for his horizons with an extra amount of oil, he manages to give to his material two features that make the artwork even more vulnerable if not treated with special care. The paint takes a longer period to dry and with its exposure to light it loses its white quality and acquires a yellowish hue. It thus achieves a direct comment on the need to treat the very atmosphere that surrounds us with extra care as well. According to Alessandra Pace’s text in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, “There is no planet B, despite a couple of billionaires perusing alternatives for themselves. We’ve got to do with what we have. Atmosphere is what we breathe and also what we feel“.
Stamatakis takes over his share of the action, since, as Alessandra Pace mentions later on in her text, “Daringly George Stamatakis takes the risk to balance between celebrating nature and romanticising disaster, admonishing to arrest climate change — which implies a deep cultural change — and doing it through traditional, figurative art following conventional circuits, which everybody understands“.