Maria Filopoulou
Tasos Mantzavinos
Kostas Papanikolaou                              Artist's Biography>>
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An excerpt from
"The Saronic Gulf is Attica's Courtyard" 2006.
The first time I saw the sea, I was five or six years old, and I remember it because its light made a great impression on me. [.] When I got into the Academy, I liked Paul Klee's seascapes, because he tried to capture the feel, not the image of the sea. [.] I used to go to the sea a lot, but one time, I left Exarcheia, where I lived, and went to Hydra. This was in '84. I was still in the Academy. I still remember this. But what is it that I remember? What I remember is the unique quality of the sea water which reflects light like nothing else does: the sea at midday which resembles paint. A mythical blue. The clarity, the fact that it is in constant motion, clearly so. It is a moving colour that you can smell and swim in.
People, constructions and the sea. In my work, these three elements call for the same care and thoroughness. Each serves as a background to the other.

Kostas Papanikolaou