INSIGHT
About the artist
About the exhibition
“I am searching for the magic of the darkness, the shadows, the misty and the obscure. A hidden beauty, faint as in a dream.” Yiannis Adamakos
The artist chose the term INSIGHT to describe the artworks he produced between 2019 and 2021 collectively and as a total. This series comprises works on paper and canvas created in parallel and share a common artistic approach. They complement each other and differ solely in size and material. The exhibition held in CITRONNE gallery features drawings on paper made exclusively with graphite pencil. The works are not studies on other larger ones. They constitute independent and, at the same time, integral parts of a broader series.
Yiannis Adamakos is a profoundly reflective, and insightful artist. He observes; but, at the same time, he adopts an abstract approach. He dreams; but, at the same time, he resorts to geometry. He documents; but, at the same time, he foresees. This solitary procedure integrates experiences turned into images and the ensuing emotion. The painter turns to his personal inner codes in order to filter, process and, ultimately, to transform reality. The formidably balanced synthesis, a composition of thesis and anti-thesis, provides a reflection of the perceived and sensuous impact of the outer world.
His works are not level. The graphite pencil actually engraves on paper and gives tonality and textures. Light and darkness –two opposing impressions– add volume, perspective, depth and three-dimensionality. Surfaces increase and decrease, they fluctuate, just like our breath. Depending on the pressure applied by the artist while using the graphite pencil on the paper, the white-black composition becomes layered; alternating tonalities emerge and create a peculiar sense of colour. Adamakos treats the surface with targeted incisions, a technique which modifies texture and adds depth and perspective.
The starting point for almost all of Yiannis Adamakos’ works is a landscape. However, this landscape cannot be positioned or delimited. It does not evoke a specific or identifiable locus because it is stripped of all elements of topicality and reformulates itself in a fusion of imagination, dream -like reminiscing, past experiences and, predominantly, alternating emotions. The purpose is not the mere rendering of the natural environment. Instead, it is all about the shadow, the imaginary existence. The artist appropriates landscape on his own terms.
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