Alphabet by Dimitris Ntokos Following the “Metamorphosis” exhibition, The Blender Gallery hosts for the second time a solo exhibition by Dimitris Ntokos entitled "Alphabet". This new line of artwork includes 26 wall pieces with the characteristic hieroglyphic designs of the artist, presented in a more "individualistic" way, as well as floor sculptures that create an imposing play of shadows. The visitors of the exhibition will have the opportunity to enjoy a street art installation in the venue, accompanied by an audiovisual recording of the artists’ “journeys”. Dimitris Ntokos was introduced in the Greek art scene as a street artist deeply influenced by the symbols of ancient Egypt, firstly with the motif of the scarab and then at a later stage with the hieroglyphs that take over his compositions. One can discover his art by chance, when a shop owner in the center of Athens closes his business’s shutters, at the basketball court in Kifisia, the floor of which is “occupied” by a huge mural or whilst driving a countryside road on the side of which an abandoned or burned car with symbols on it lies. His art is also found in foreign countries on the walls of abandoned buildings in Berlin, Belgium and Italy. The artist works mainly with acrylics and oils in bright colors. What is striking is that most of the symbols are not repeated on the surface he has chosen to work on, be it a canvas, a car, a wall or a mirror. One symbol follows the other, therefore unfolding a mysterious papyrus, a cryptic letter, a coded diary the symbols of which are interpreted through the eyes of each viewer. The peculiarity of Ntokos' new series is that each ideogram is isolated in the square composition of the canvas, in contrast to previous series where the ideograms flood the surface, one after the other. Those who have been following Ntokos since the beginning of his career experience a shift of focus from the story to the letter. As if looking through the magnifying glass at his older works, the viewers are invited to look thoroughly at the form of each letter, at the details of the original "texts". They find themselves observing the very beginning of Dimitris Ntokos’ linguistic labyrinth. With the works placed next to each other, in horizontal but also vertical arrangements, the space of The Blender Gallery functions as a "Tabula Rasa", where the artist’s new collection unfolds on the walls, mapping a new viewing path / text line for the “reader” of his works. Through his new exhibition "Alphabet", the artist turns our gaze to the "beginning" of his characteristic artistic identity and reveals to us that each of the symbols is a letter and that its alphabet consists of 26 letters. There are alphabets with more letters, with different characters, with a strange writing direction, with specific ways of imprinting, even particular writing tools. But there are also alphabets like Ntokos’ hieroglyphs that are not decoded. Each representation hides a letter from the Latin alphabet without expressing a note or a syllable. Whether each of them represents a whole concept, retelling a story, remains an open question. Dimitris Ntokos (b. 1984) lives and works in Athens. He is a graduate of the Department of Graphic Design and Architectural Design where he has worked for six consecutive years. Since 2011 he has participated in solo and group art exhibitions around the world. In 2017 he was a speaker at the Art History Week held at the College of Athens, while his last solo exhibition was in 2019 in Palermo, Italy.
'A' 2020, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Linen
'B' 2020, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘C' 2020, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘D' 2020, 120 x 100 cm unframed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘E’ 2020, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘F’ 2020, 120 x 100 cm unframed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘G’ 2020, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘H’ 2020, 120 x 100 cm unframed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘I’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘K’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘L’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘M’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
’N’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘O’ 2021, 120 x 100 cm unframed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘P’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘Q’ 2021, 120 x 100 cm unframed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘R’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
’S’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
’T’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘U’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘V’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘W’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘X’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘Y’ 2021, 136 x 116 cm framed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
‘Z’ 2021, 120 x 100 cm unframed, Oil and Acrylic on Canvas
For further info, please contact the gallery info@theblendergallery.com