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GIORGOS STATHOPOULOS (Greece, Agrinio, Kallithea b. 1944 / act: Athens) |
Giorgos Stathopoulos was born on 16 April 1944 at Kallithea of Agrinio, Greece. He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts - ASFA (1966-1971) painting under Yannis Moralis and Nikos Nikolaou, and sculpture under Yannis Pappas and Dimitris Kalamaras.Stathopoulos became known as a painter of popular art that is fresh yet founded in tradition. He has a preference for an anthropocentric subject matter tinted with the Hellenic ideal.
Here is what Manos Hadjidakis (1925-1994), the great Greek composer, wrote about the artist: "Giorgos Stathopoulos practices his silent art in his atelier. And, as old chemists do, he searches and discovers the interactions of colors, drawings and birds. A single bird alone in the deep light blue sky. The same bird, deathly grey and then archaic in an ochre environment. Instead of trying to ensure an identity, given by merchants and an authority's seal, characterizing him as 'modern', he seeks a conjugation with what is eerie and genuine. He is talking with friends in the evening and he is deeply influenced by how the times alter him, his friends and the space in which he functions with sensitivity and thought. He thus slowly becomes a colourful X-ray picture of the city, the times, and human bodies. Once again, for endless hours, he draws alone, doors, that do not hide the interior of the house, but the infinite nightmare, with seas and warships and windows, that lead our eyes to the lawlessness of an uneasy and troubled dream, that corrodes cities and villages with colours, away from the memories and the fading picturesque. Stathopoulos is truly a charismatic man, coming from a village. Fortunately for him, he did not dance to national rhythms, neither did he accept uncontrollable heritage, no slogans, no easy writing. He stepped on with a genuine means of painting, as the worthy and genuine painter that he is, in laborious recording of modern despair, which automatically becomes also national. This is why we take interest in him." [Manos Hadjidakis]
Stathopoulos presented numerous personal exhibitions and took part in many group exhibitions. Apart from his main work, he also engaged with stage design, and illustrtated record covers, posters, books and utilitarian objects. Since 1996 he has engraved more than 200 works in copper and linoleum.
Giorgos Stathopoulos currently lives and works in Athens.
[Megakles Rogakos 12/2005]
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
M. HADJIDAKIS, M. ARGYRAKIS, K. LOUKOPOULOS, G. SKAMBARTHONIS George Stathopoulos 1995 Haidemenos, Athens [Greek]
SKAMBARTHONIS, GIORGOS Giorgos Stathopoulos: Paintings from 1966 to 1987 - A Stunning Soul 1998 Haidemenos, Athens [Greek]
SCHINA, ATHENA Joyous Trophies 2004 Kapopoulos Gallery, Alimos [Greek & English]
