View
218
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
1/59
VIENNA 2011
NIKOS KYPRAIOS
The ecsTaTic breaTh o reedom
der bedingungslose Weg der reiheiT
PAINTINGS
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
2/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
3/59
niKos KYPraios
The ecsTaTic breaTh o reedom
der bedingungslose Weg der reih
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
4/59
PainTings
V 2011
niKos KYPraios
The ecsTaTic breaTh o reedom
der bedingungslose Weg der reihe
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
5/59
p y
at t o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
6/59
Vt bk (at) ag t t p t nk Kyp xt V
i t t nk v t t at 2009, ty
wk. h tv pt tt w t tt w ptv
w y ty t pt. nt t nk
pt, t k t t t t tw jt t
t.
v p g, t y t pp t
t w t t t tt t t gk w , ty, t ct
J ct, g, s, sv. T y t pt
t q y t t w t, w y
wt pw ft.
o bk Vt t t w v t, w
t t t t v, t vy t pt t t v
wt t. T bk t vp -t tp w
t y ptt w t wt. Wt y tk t t t
ppty, t t ty t t t tt y fty v
, v t t t tt. by t pp
t wk nk Kyp, w t t wt.
Vt vy p t p nk t wk t w t g
i p tt y pp, t t t xt t k, w jy
qt wt t p pt nk Kyp.
et T, ceo Vt bk (at) ag
tt y et Tceo Vt bk (at) ag
roses o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
7/59
s.K ptto Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
8/59
atk wt nk Kyp
d exp v nk Kyp t pt
et z stt t m z
t Ptt , w ep pt.
n ekt et w,
t Wk z t, t nk Kyp t J
K Jw, ik, at w.
g v gwt, Pt
ztt, pttt.
ut rt , T s
K t nk t m , r
hf aw c wtwt
Kttp z t. i a t,
Vjt Vt ep, t
hfkt m
vt lt kt. e t ppt
k s, Pt k,
st k Kttp Vwt
Wt st vt
wtt K, V mkt,
zt.
d r ztt , t
sw t tzt J t s
m, v m, tt
Kz p mkt tt w,
V t; t m, ztt v
spkt bt. u jtzt,
, vtt Wk v t bt,
r b wtwt exp, w, w
w. nk t m Wt, t
t d t ep wtwt
P kt s gwt
Zkt .
ct l
.
,
, , ,
.
,
.
,
.
,
, .
,
,
.
. ,
,
.
, ,
.
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
9/59
p s (2005) o cv 150X150
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
10/59
nk t t
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
11/59
My rst occasion to view Nikoss work was made possible by his son G
Kypraios. At the time, George was working at a midtown oce complex in M
tan where his athers paintings -- primarily o lands capes -- were either hung
various oces or stacked against walls along the corridors. In viewing them,
the quality o the light in these landscapes as being dierent than anythin
seen by painters in America, France or elsewhere in Europe. Despite the w
Monet, Burcheld, or Millet, Nikos had managed to create a hovering lumin
his landscapes that carried a sense o expectant stillness. Within the silence
was a certain dramatic eect, an energy o some kind that possessed a s
somewhat beatic ambiguity. It became clear that Nikos was not simply p
a landscape as a sign o pleasure (as one might nd in French Impressionism
he was also telling a story through these landscape that carried implicit s
ism and deeply conficted, i not oreboding messages. These landscapes w
innocent. They were raught with mystery, suering, and hidden strie inc
historical events in his ancient homeland.
Nikos leads a simple lie o solitude in order to ocus on his work. He
concerned with events in the world outside than in what he senses in the ev
world around him. Ater residing in Australia or more than twenty years a period o exile, the artist discovered a renewed ondness or the olk tra
within his Aegean culture. Since the 1990s, he has divided his time between
in Athens and on the island o Samos.
While there are dierences between urban and country lie, Nikos
niKos KYPraios and The birTh o PainTing
rt c. m
roses o Pp 110X180
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
12/59
home in either place. Athens is a cosmopolitan and international center o
ness and tourism, and Samos is more intimate and rural, more isolated ro
hectic pace o the mainland. For the artist, each environment compleme
other and thus oers a necessary stimuli and inspiration in order to pursu
ideas through his painting.
In contrast to the enormous expanse o desecrated landscapes by t
man painter Anselm Kieer, the paintings o Nikos are more humble, more
to an easel scale picture that could t on anyones wall. The intimate scale o
paintings refects not only a eeling o the landscape he knows so well onland o Samos but also reveals something o the character o the artist. This
his work all the more convincing as art. Rather than competing in scale o
with other artists, whether past or present, Nikos has chosen to ocus on h
perspective and to articulate his own point o view. He wants his paintings
not as a public sensation but as a private evocation o the struggle between
and sanctity, between the earth and the sky, between the orces o good an
lemonsoPp70
X100
ishes o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
13/59
There is a certain distance in Nikos paintings that combines with the
humility and quiet sense o privacy. Both are noble qualities that are losin
as the menace o globalization quanties everything within its reach. It is
nd this kind o lucidity in contemporary painting today. On an intuitive leve
understands these qualities as a source o strength and inspiration. By be
himsel, he is capable o capturing the story o the la ndscape or the still-lie morte) more accurately. As an intimate artist, he is capable o envisioning
o internal reality in his paintings that is both psychological and spiritual.
this reason that I s ense in Nikoss painting the origins o what a human being
choose to paint. Why would someone what to pick up a brush and apply p
to a surace, whether it be on the rocks o a cave or a stretch o canvas or a w
altarpiece. What could the motivation possibly be?
In addition to technical and ormal discipline, the ability to paint also r
a sense o the awareness o change through the reality o time. By sensing t
ity, one comes into contact with the history o human events and eelings
in turn, opens a door to the mythic dimension o painting. Painting is a soli
whereby the artists imagination invents new orms. The point is to grasp
thing beyond the reality o what we see in the everyday world. One reas
Nikos is an important painter is because he re-lives the origins o painting
he is painting he is always painting or the rst time. To see a work by Nik
understand why a camera cannot capture what he is telling us, because wh
telling us comes directly rom his eelings and is gradually rened into som
that startles us into a new awareness o what it means to be alive.
Two o the themes that Nikos has painted in recent years are shruits.
Pear o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
14/59
One might regard these nature morte paintings as miniature land
Rather than sunlit elds or sublime orests, the sh and ruits appear more in
They are shown on a table within a small space where they hold a amili
related to the mystical yellows and reds ound in the earlier landscapes. Vhave oten suggested to Nikos that these paintings are simply still-lie paint
i there was no urther symbolic comment. But this is not true. From the pe
tive o the artist, these paintings o dead sh and picked ruits reer to the b
o human emotions, ranging rom sadness to ecs tatic joy.
They symbolize a kind o completeness that is both present and absence in
day lie.
When I see the reddish glow o the ruit in these paintings, there is a c
confict. The color suggests a kind o magical encounter with the natural
yet it also represents a kind o anxiety and dissociation o the psyche in re
to nature. This kind o distance between human beings and nature is one
major tragedies that the artist is trying to tell us. His paintings reveal a bowl
something innocent. But as we look again, one might see the ruit under a di
light. Is it real ruit? Or just an image o ruit? A temptation or a reality? Wha
it mean to live in a world o simulation?
Nikos sees his role as an artist not to give answers but to reveal que
based on conficts that are visually represented. What we perceive may or m
be what we assume it to be. Is what we are seeing in a Nikos painting some
real or something transormed or transmuted rom another state o Beingother place in time? We cannot really say, but this implies a kind o reinca
o all living things. Yet we may grasp the stillness and the energy o nature in
paintings. The goodness o lie is present in our way o seeing, but so is th
side. Nikos paintings represent not just one aspect o Be ing.
Wild cherrY o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
15/59
Even so, he is ocusing on the simple aspect o lie and raising met
cal questions in the process. The sh and ruits are innocent on the one ha
are also reminders o lie passing in ront o us and through us. We may qu
whether we have succeeded or ailed to see ourselves in relation to the ea
inhabit. This is where the spiritual aspect o these simple paintings oers
vincing truth.. Nikos gives beauty to his paintings and thereby allows us to
on the meaning o simple things and simple actions, o what we do, and h
becomes the creatures that we are.
Another comment, in closing. The title o this essay includes the word
which, o course, is a hopeul sign. Here I eel obliged to explain. Nikos ge
orms and colors through the activity o his imagination. In each case, thes
and colors relate to memor y, to some place or some time that he has exper
To paint a picture is not like taking a picture as one might do with a came
video recorder. In Nikos paintings there is nothing to be taken. There is on
is given. In this sense, a painting may resemble a git. The birth o paintin
Nikos paintings -- suggests the rst impulse to represent an object in natu
has meaning in our lives.
ish o Pp 35X70
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
16/59
The artist may look and remember, even beore the application o p
brushed on the canvas. The rst stroke is the beginning, the birth o som
transormed by the artist s mind, heart, and hand. It is a message, perhaps, th
essential message -- that living is not merely surviving, but loving what oth
willing to give us and what we are willing to give them.. Nikos paintings a
minder o this undamental impulse. Painting in this sense constitutes the b
an image physically seen, emotionally elt and conceptually remembered
orm o delivery, a transerence, and a communication that reminds us o w
basic to our senses, and what is necessary or us to live happily, even as the
suddenly begins to appear oreign to our senses.
_______________
Robert C. Morgan, Ph.D. is an international art critic, art historian, poet, and artist win New York City. In 1999, he was the rst recipient o the Arcale award given in Salamanc
In 2005, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in t he Republic o Korea.
He is a visiting Proessor at Pratt Institute and the author o many books, includingideas (Cambridge, 1996) and The End o the Art World (1998). He has books and essays tra
into several languages and lectures widely on issues o connoisseurship in art and prob
repression and memory in culture.
Peach o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
17/59
k 150X150 v
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
18/59
. .
,
, ,
,
,
,
.
. , , ,
,
,
, , , , .
,
.
, ,
. :
.
ishes o Pp 50X70
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
19/59
.
.
,
,
,
.
,
.
.
, ,
.
. .
.
,
.
, ,
,
,
igs o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
20/59
.
.
.
,
,
,
.
.
.
.
,
.
.
,
,
.
.
.-
.
, 16-7-2010
ishes o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
21/59
shes o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
22/59
ishes o Pp 70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
23/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
24/59
shes o Pp 50X70
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
25/59
sh70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
26/59
sh60X70 pp
xt p ish60X70 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
27/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
28/59
sh70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
29/59
sh
X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
30/59
ish70X100
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
31/59
sh50X60 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
32/59
ish70
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
33/59
ish70
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
34/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
35/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
36/59
t
Plum70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
37/59
reen TomaToes70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
38/59
Peaches70
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
39/59
omegranaTe70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
40/59
ence70X100
pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
41/59
uince ruiT70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
42/59
reen aPPle70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
43/59
ears70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
44/59
herries70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
45/59
orange70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
46/59
mons70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
47/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
48/59
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
49/59
green PePPers 120X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
50/59
orange70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
51/59
0
PomegranaTes70X100 pp
PomegranaTe70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
52/59
2
Pears 120X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
53/59
4
WaTermelon70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
54/59
6
TormY sea70X100 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
55/59
8
elon120X120 pp
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
56/59
0
k w 1944 Vty, t gk s-
. i 1960 t t at, w t
wk y y t p t. h
p t t t y t a p byz-
t t.
1966 nk tv t e x y t -
t t at.
t xp vy t tt i -
xp pt, i p t. at
p t w i -
y y . T y pt i ty t t
y . et yt t
t v t pw pt tt
.
s e l e c T e d e X h i b i T i o n s
1969 gp ext y t ay itt c-pt, at
1971 P ext nk, V, usa
1974 P ext la Trobe uniVersiTY, m
1975 P ext rain gy, m
1978 P ext t t Vt att sty, m
1979 gp ext t r dv gy, m
1979 P ext t t Vt att sty, m
1981 P ext t t Vt att sty, m
1982 P ext t t holdsWorTh gy, syy
1982 P ext t t nt uvty, c
1983 P ext t t PinacoTheca gy, m
1984 gp ext t t bloomield gy, syy
1984 gp ext t t nt gy, bt
1985 P ext t barrY sTern g, syy1985 P ext t t cooKs hill gy, nwt
1985 P ext t t PinacoTheca gy m
1986 P ext t t barrY sTern g, syy
1986 P ext t t Ptk Kt at, g
1987 P ext t t holdsWorTh gy, syy
1988 P ext t t chaPman gy syy
1989 tv atp gp ext WesTPac gy, m
1992 P ext t t anTinor gy
1993 gp ext t t maria PaPadoPoulos gy, at
1993 op t marK chagall ViTebsK, b
1994 P ext t t maria PaPadoPoulos gy, at
1994 Tk pt t t t itt P a Pt t mk c
Vtk, b. aw t Pz
1995 P ext t t nt m at mk, b
1997 P ext t et gy at at r, m
1999 P ext t arT club design 2000, Tk
2003 P ext t iris gallerY, at
2003 P ext t Kouros gallerY, nw Yk
2004 P ext t gy 1601, at ey, Wt d.c. u.s.a2005 P ext t lp rtt m m at, usa
2007 P ext t i gy
2007 P ext t g gy n cyp
2009 P ext t hk m (Vtt bk p)
artists self portrait
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
57/59
2
e d i T i o n s
nk: a decadeP 1981 y hy m etnt ly at - c n isbn 0 9593467 0 8 wt 120 p 106tt.niKos neos TYPos et at 1996ct arT club d 2000niKos: samos 2000ct t samos ext nv 2000ct t leePa-raTTner m m at, usact t cYPrus ext 2007ct t iris ext 2008
d i s T i n c T i o n s
1. h tt w y t P Vt m. c nk Kyp ttt t at 19822. t Pz t t t itt P a Pt t mk c, Vtk b-, 1994.3. h tt w 1994P u b l i c a T i o n s
2004 arT Press P y rt m2004 odYsseY:T W g2005 g a2006 odYsseY nv2006 d. rt c. m: ey lp rtt m m at ct2010 app
s e l e c T e d b i b l i o g r a P h Y
a.o. connor ausTralia reVieWg. mihelaKaKisr. Krausmen asPecTnadine amadioP. sTelios lidaKismaTina melaP. chr.chrisTouag. TamVaKiYiannis KoloKoTronisniKos aleXiou
roberT morganchrisTos landrouYiorgos aggelinarasPanagioTis oTis
Txt
rt m,Y a
ct lct l
et Ptpy
lt m
g Ttsty - i btk
g Txt et
d. Pt V
Pt
t - Typ s.a.
I would like to thank Mr. Ernst Traun, CEO of Valartis Bank (Austri a) AG for his g
support on the Vienna exhibition and this catalogue.
nk
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
58/59
4
7/31/2019 Nikos Kypraios
59/59
Recommended