Transitions by Alexis Avlamis

Transitions

Transitions

ALEXIS AVLAMIS

The publication entitled “Transitions” by Alexis Avlamis materialized on the occasion of the namesake solo exhibition that took place from 5th of May 2023 till 24th of June 2023 at The Blender Gallery in Glyfada.

Contributors:

Production: The Blender Gallery

Photos: Vassilis Loukatos

Catalogue design: Anifactum Design Studio

Texts: Jannis Psychopedis, Dora Markatou

G. Seferis

[transl.E. Keeley & Ph. Sherrard]

BEYOND THE LAND OF DREAMS*

Transformations in the art of Alexis Avlamis

The sea; the feast of colours in a sunset; sunflowers; fish; fir-trees; mount Ainos; the botanical garden; the fruits and flowers of the goddess Demeter; the light on a mountaintop; marvellous cloud formations against the broad sky; fruit trees; the heart of an artichoke and blue potatoes; water lilies; wild fauna and flora; the white owl; the treasures of the earth’s bosom; the deeds of nature and the deeds of humans.

All these are the subject matter of a reflective art that seeks to connect imaginary and realistic landscapes and forms through the multivalence of images; to bring together the inner, idealist life of things with their tangible and earthly substance; to unite a cosmic dreamworld of symbols with the wonder of the solid, primal force of the tangible world. This is the deeper essence of the art of Alexis Avlamis. An art in which the freedom that comes with idealising our surrounding world meets romanticism, the tenderness and humaneness of a lived place and time; an art expressed through the deep and real senses of smell, taste, and touch – senses that have their own true homeland, and this is the homeland of their creator’s soul. A homeland that suggests to us the moral importance of art through a longing for a life that is real, full of imagination and dreams, and for a cosmic dreamworld full of the natural sap of earthly nectar.

Through a rich visual conversation with the real world, through ‘counsel and dream’, Avlamis’ art unfolds sometimes as a whisper, sometimes with reverence, sometimes with grandeur and opulence of colour, sometimes with elegant poetic sensibility, sometimes with refined decorative qualities, crystallising those rare sensations around us and within us, and uniting man and nature into an indivisible whole. Through visual immediacy with regard to the natural environment, through exact documentation of its detailed hues,

through meticulous and faithful rendering of the natural landscape, through a gentle and mysterious flickering between light and shadow, through stark contrasts and sensitive tonal gradations—here, a world of reality in transformation is visually captured, a truth under the sway of an ‘other’ life, outside conventional time.

This is a world of an exotic subconscious, of poetic fantasies defined by a relation of wonder and worship towards human existence within the universe, by a relation between the here-and-now and what lies beyond, in which human presence and life on earth explode into cosmic infinity, into the dimension between now and forever. Through their continual renewal in expressivity and through the wealth of their artistic idiom, the transformation and the fluidity of visual material allow the emergence and manifestation of a natural habitat in which we find the convergence and flourishing of controlled gesture and of the arbitrariness of artistic material, the conscious and the unconscious, the fleeting and the permanent, the cold and the warm, the fluid and the solid, the immaterial and the concrete, the two-dimensional and the textured, tangible clarity and lyrical vagueness, rationality and venturing beyond it.

The art of Alexis Avlamis is rich in allusivity, with deep roots in the past while also conversing at the same time with a present and future that is technocratic, undefinable, and disquietingly dazzling. What will come out of this lyrical, dark musicality of time? The female figures—elvish and pixie-like creatures, nostalgic utopias, mythological memories, sensual depictions of mother earth—are dominant and contemplate ‘today, as tomorrow and as yesterday’, gazing at the hues of infinity with the dignity of their own moral and aesthetic presence. The sense of time that is implied here, that frames these figures and imbues these forms, is time in motion yet

unmoving, an atemporal sense of time, in opposition to but also in coexistence with private and historical time, the personal and communal experience.

Through these thin and multiple layers of memory, through successive stratifications of creativity in colour, through visual and conceptual free associations, we set out for a journey to a visual place resonant with the memory and nostalgia of the future. This is an ideal visual place located on the border betwixt and between the material and immaterial world, betwixt and between ceaseless motion and stable, immobile monumentality.

Wax painting—the art of encaustic that Alexis Avlamis serves with humility and knowledge, this ancient technique and artistic method—is the hidden refuge of immortality, the inextinguishable hope for eternal living presence, beyond death. Encaustic strives ceaselessly, in optimistic desperation, to preserve living remnants, to retrieve and foreground the sense of life through the corporeality of wax, to preserve in time, through the persistent endurance of wax, the precious sense of the continuity of human life and the world. It is an art form that—through this rare, malleable, long-lived material that is wax—seeks to inscribe, to mould, to build our common denominator, our common need to occupy together the same space, our need to preserve memory from oblivion, our need to keep returning always to the core. To the core. To our home. And what is our home? Art itself. And its creator is a naturalist, a cultivator, a labourer who strives to raise seedlings in the ground—he knows their time.

‘A time to sow and a time to reap.’

And alongside the creator also the creative spectator: an immigrant in a new continent, in the kingdom of a fairy-tale story, in the domain of a genuinely earthly and hence also dreamlike world.

‘Beyond the land of dreams.’

Jannis Psychopedis Professor Emeritus of Painting, Athens School of Fine Arts

*Homer, Odyssey 24.12

‘O dark shivering in the roots and the leaves if it were but you who would bring the forgotten dawn!’

THOUGHTS ON ALEXIS AVLAMIS’ PAINTING

Until recently Alexis Avlamis was known for the “landscapes of the mind”, large, dense, abstract compositions, influenced by the hyperrealistic automatism. He now turns his gaze towards the past, which he discovered by studying the exhibits of the Corgialenios Historical and Cultural Museum of Cephalonia. This is how the Echoes of the Past (Argostoli, June 29th - October 21st 2022) solo exhibition was born, for which he created small, realistic and delicate compositions showcased next to the source of his inspiration: the museum’s exhibits.

The current Transitions show is the natural evolution of the previous one. He continues his research on a higher level and traces back to ancient myths, which describe metamorphoses, of course not to illustrate them, but instead to study and capture the transition rom one situation to another, to intrigue the viewer and at the same time to express emotional states and internal representations. Needless to say, he is a thoughtful artist researcher who enriches the myths with his own images and is inspired by species that transform also through his intellectual/psychological legacy In other words, his compositions combine mythological, natural and spiritual elements, sometimes even through dialogue with artworks made by great masters of art. The fact that he paints outdoors in direct contact with the unique and biodiverse nature of Cephalonia, charges his perception and directs him to imaginative solutions, free rom common sense, to a developed foresight connecting the past with the present while unveiling a restless conscience for today’s problems. The outcome is a sum of original paintings made by a gifted painter, who knows how to ravish the eye with his visual, poetic part of the painting to intrigue, to arouse the mind but also to subtly suggest that it is worth delving into the picture, that painting doesn’t constrain itself within its visible borders. For this reason if the viewer exfoliates and strips away the materials he may even reach the spiritual core of the painting.

His endeavor is aided by the ancient encaustic technique, which suggests the metamorphosis of matter: upon heating, the solid beeswax melts at approximately 63°C, it mixes with powder pigment and dammar resin and then its liquid state solidifies. The end result reveals a low relief surface, in Alexis Avlamis’ case a visual comment on the stages of psychological evolution of man. Encaustic is usually applied on a rigid substrate such as wood, the melted colored wax penetrates the heated surface while the mastic or dammar resin imparts luster and durability for centuries to come. Beeswax which is secreted by worker honey bees is a 100% raw material which coincides with the painter’s nature loving temperament and curiosity to paint with a pure material.

Alexis Avlamis has experimented with encaustic since 2005. His start point was theoretical research, trial and error, painting on various surfaces and experimenting different approaches. So he concluded that the demanding encaustic technique “offers an extraordinary versatility, a broad range of optical e fects and new painterly possibilities”, such that it totally fulfills his expressive needs.

Encaustic was perfected by ancient Greeks, exactly when and who invented it is still unknown. However by the end of the 6th century B.C it was already in use. Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D) describes it in the 22nd chapter of his 35th Natural History book and gained widespread attention by the discovery of the lifelike Fayum funerary portraits (1st-3rd c. A.D). In modern times the technique comes to light again and already since 1750 it was used by known artists such as Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). In the Greek area, the leading researcher of the encaustic method was the painter Konstantinos Iatras (1811-1888) from Zante island. He was an active member of a small avant-garde group in Europe, which regarded the technique in art as science. He passionately devoted

himself in searching how to apply the encaustic technique in modern art.

In the hands of Alexis Avlamis, whose inspiration is deeply rooted in the past’s heritage and in nature’s wisdom, the ancient encaustic technique produces excellent results and it may even serve pursuits of a highly intellectual level. In a few cases he combines encaustic with oil on the waxy surface. In this short text it is not possible to mention specific examples. However, ought to highlight that most of his painting’s titles carry abstract concepts, which require from the painter’s side a spiritual and emotional maturity as well as technical expertise and confidence, a fact which points to great

goals, which I believe he manages to achieve. The meticulous, enigmatic and imaginative compositions, the depiction of two phases of time before and after the transition/transformation, the combination of seemingly unmatching elements, the color’s harmony and luster, in some cases the evocative atmosphere which reaches the Sublime, the intricate texture of the wax color, the low relief of a vibrating background , all these capture the viewer’s gaze, make him to think, bring into play free associations of ideas and finally contribute to a communion (methexis).

Dora F. Markatou Former Associate Professor of Ioannina University

TRANSITIONS

ARTIST STATEMENT

One of my childhood memories was to plant watermelon seeds in a clearing amongst the fir trees. They never grew because the conditions were not suitable. Though do remember the longing I felt to return in the springtime waiting to encounter a huge plant bearing beautiful fruit. But the only thing that sprouted was my imagination, the desire to explore, to collect and play with my surroundings. Mountain hiking and earth cultivation fascinate, rejuvenate and offer me the visual material to combine and assemble new images. The series Transitions explores the landscapes of the mind which associate man and his psychological aspects. The individual and the collective are unified, the conscious and the unconscious become one. After all, this is what I believe in, a cosmic unity.

After many years, am once again painting with the ancient encaustic technique on plywood using my favorite material: the alchemical beeswax. The catalyst of this technique is heat and its dynamic balance between “fire and ice”, a phenomenon which embodies contradictions such as solid vs liquid, flat vs relief, controlled vs unpredictable.

It is no coincidence that use nature as a palette to portray nature itself as well as man and his works. nostalgically search for connections between the past and the present. work methodically by searching, collecting and compiling information. However I improvise when it comes to color in order to achieve lifelike impressions. The paintings suggest transformation, the ecosystem, the relationship with one’s Self and praises the woman thanks to whom the adventure of life continues.

Alexis Avlamis

To my father, Dr. George Avlamis who lights up my path when it gets dark.

Galatea, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 x 60 cm

Clytia, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 30 x 30 cm

Fertility, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 x 60 cm

Succession, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 x 60 cm

Flash, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 26 x 30 cm

Scouting, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 x 60 cm

Return to the core, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 30 x 30 cm

Rebirth, 2023, encaustic and oil on plywood, 40 x 30 cm

Storm, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 30 x 24 cm

The metamorphosis of Cynara, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 40 x 30 cm

Spring of life, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 x 45 cm

Self-reflection, 2023, encaustic and oil on plywood, 19 x 19 cm

Contemplation, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 19 x 19 cm

Reconciliation, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 19 x 19 cm

Coexistence, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 19 x 19 cm

Water lilies, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 18 x 34 cm

Anticipation, 2023, encaustic and oil on plywood, 55 x 100 cm

Cross-pollination, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 30 x 24 cm

Cracked life, intact spirit, 2022, encaustic and oil on plywood, 30 x 24 cm

Stoicism, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 x 60 cm

Passage, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 19 x 19 cm

Migration, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 30 x 40 cm

Ω, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 60 cm diameter

Fellow travelers, 2023, encaustic on plywood, 20 x 20 cm

ALEXIS AVLAMIS (BORN IN ATHENS, GREECE 1979)

1997-2002

Education

BFA in Painting under R. Papaspyrou, Athens School of Fine Arts

Bennington College, Painting and Ceramics courses, VT, USA

Solo exhibitions

Transitions, The Blender Gallery, Athens Echoes of the Past, Corgialeneios Historical and Cultural Museum, Cephalonia

Cosmographies, CICA Museum, Seoul, South Korea

Cosmic Unity, Melina Merkouri Cultural Centre, Athens

Rising cities, Tio Ilar 7, Sismanoglio Megaro, Istanbul

Phantasmagoria, Zina Athanassiadou Gallery, Thessaloniki

Athanassiadou Art Advice Gallery, Athens

Burning in, Qbox gallery, Athens

Group exhibitions

The Elephant in the Room, IU Kokomo Downtown Gallery, IN, USA

Draw it on Paper, Vancouver Art Space, WA, USA

2020 Five Points Annex Small Works Juried Exhibition, Five Points Gallery, CT, USA

The Art of Theater: From Hamlet to Hairspray, Sacramento Fine Arts Centre, CA, USA

(First Place award)

2020 Works on Paper Juried Show, Philadelphia Sketch Club, PA, USA

35th Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, University of Texas at Tyler, TX, USA

Open 30 International Juried Exhibition, MFMVA Gallery, Laredo College, TX, USA

25th Annual Gateway to the Rockies Art Show, Community College of Aurora, CO, USA

31st Annual Juried Exhibition, Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council, TX, USA

Unique abstractions 2019, Las Laguna Gallery, CA, USA

Juxtaposition, Art Juxtapose gallery, NY, USA

47th Annual International Exhibition, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, TX, USA

24th Arts in Harmony International Show, Hopkins Center for the Arts, MN, USA

24th Arts in Harmony International Show, American Swedish Institute, MN, USA

Small works show 2019, Upstream Gallery, NY, USA

Small Works, Lemonade Stand Gallery, FL, USA

First Nations Contemporary Biennial, Tubac Center of the Arts, AR, USA

Americas 2018: All media, Walter Piehl gallery, Minot State University, ND, USA

Who.Are.You?, Atlantic Gallery, Juried show, NY, USA

In Black and White: Art meets Writing, SAA Collective, IL, USA

Painting on the Edge, Federation of Canadian Artists, VA, Canada

31st September competition, Alexandria Museum of Art, LA, USA

27th Annual Juried Competition, Bowery Gallery, NY, USA

Cardinal Planes, Gallery Korea, Korean Cultural Center, NY, USA

39th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Monmouth Museum, NJ, USA

Lines of Thought, CICA Museum, South Korea

The Abstract Mind, CICA Museum, South Korea

Black&White, 3rd Place, Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery, OK, USA

Not just drawing: a line with intent, Arc Gallery, Chicago, IL, USA

Amuse Yeux, Foothills Art Center, CO, USA

26th International Miniature Show, Parklane Gallery, WA, USA

Biennale Austria, blue bleu blau blu, AUSSTELLUNGSRAUM, Vienna, Austria

Stencil Art Prize Exhibition Tour, Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre, Australia

Stencil Art Prize Exhibition Tour, Noosa Regional Gallery, Australia

Art Kudos, International Juried Art Exhibition, TN, USA

10x10x10 Tieton, International small works exhibition, WA, USA

The Stencil Art Prize, Stirrup Gallery, Sydney, Australia Day Dreamers, Bg Gallery, Contemporary Surrealism, CA, USA

Spectrum Gestalt 4, Bg Gallery, CA, USA

Black&White, Fusion Art, NM, USA

Black Beauty, StoArt space, Athens

International Emerging Artist Award Laureates, TAG-bxl Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

Artist Statement, International Exhibition and Publication, CICA Museum, S.Korea

Anthology 2016, Charlie Smith London gallery, London, UK

Unconscious playground, Bouziani Museum, Athens

Art Rooms, The Inaugural Edition, IONE & MANN, London, UK

From Deep black to Bright white, The Pulse gallery, Athens

Mamut Art Project, 2nd Edition, Küçük Çiftlik Park, Istanbul

Tio Ilar 7, International group show, Conduit, Athens

2nd International Emerging Artist Award, FN Designs, Dubai, UAE

Irreversible, Inside-out, Wynwood exhibition center, MI, USA

Tracing traces, Fizz gallery, Athens

Tio Ilar 5, Elgeka, Athens

Inter Alios, OpenShowStudio, Athens

The distant relative of a blind man, About, Athens

Tio Ilar 4, Elgeka, Athens

D/RAFT, curated by G.Kotretsos, Action Field Kodra, Thessaloniki

International Exhibition, Henan Museum, Zhengzhou, China

Heart Revive, Sunshine Museum, Beijing, China

7 Artists / 7 Countries, Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Beijing, China

No Border, Zibo International Art Exhibition, Zibo, China Battlefield, The Art Foundation, Athens

Encaustic Works 09, Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY, USA

Visual Arts in Greece-Crossing the Borders, State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki

An Outing, The Beltsios Collection, Matsopoulos Mill Trikala, GRC

Transitions, Qbox gallery, Athens

Athens by Art, 83 contemporary artists in public space, Athens

Awards / Honorable mention / Curated selection

First Place award, The Art of Theater, Sacramento Fine Arts Centre, CA, USA

6th 2017 ArtSlant Prize Showcase Winner, Mixed-Media category

7th 2017 ArtSlant Prize Showcase Winner, Painting category ITSLIQUID International Contest, 4th edition, Honorable Mention. Venice, Italy

Laureate of the 4th International Emerging Artist Award, Brussels, Drawing

BLOOOM Award by Warsteiner, Cologne. Shortlisted, TOP 70

Mitteleuropa prix Bergamo competition, Finalist

The Drawing Center, Viewing Program, curated Artist Registry, NY

Dave Bown Projects, 4th Semiannual Competition, NY

Artist-in-Residence

Arteles Creative Center, Finland

Beijing Studio Center, Beijing, China

Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, Usa

Publications

Raleigh Review Vol. 11.1, Spring 2021, p.3,14,27,43,53

Anastamos literary Journal, Issue 6, Chapman University

New Limestone Review, Featured artist, January

The Perch, The Yale School of Medicine, Fall 2019

CUT: 10 Years of the Stencil Art Prize, Sydney, Australia

CICA Art Now 2019, CICA Museum Press, Amazon kindle

The Moving Force Journal, Fall 2019, Issue 1

Punt Volat, winter 2019

Prometheus Dreaming, print anthology of poetry, front cover Mycorrhizae journal, Fall 2019

The Raw Art Review, A Journal of Storm and Urge, Winter 2019

PubHouseBooks, Gravitas, Volume 18 Issue 1, Cover Art

Lilly Poetry Review, Art, Winter 2019

LandLocked Magazine, Issue 1, Fall 2019

Geometry Publications, Issue 5, May 2019

Damaged Goods Publications, Crab Fat Magazine, Aug-Sep

2019

The Passed Note - Visual Art. Oct 2019

THAT Literary Review, April 2019

Internet Void, January 2019

Blue Mesa review, Literary Mag, Winter issue

The Raw Art Review, A Journal of Storm and Urge, Fall 2018

Ponder review, Vol. 2, Issue 2

Sheepshead Review, Visual Arts, Fall issue

Pidgeonholes, Oct-Nov 2018

Weasel Press - Ordinary Madness Vol. 2

The Esthetic Apostle, August issue

805 Literature+Art, Fall issue

Silver needle press, Weekly art contest

OTHER. Magazine, Audiovisual – Spring 2018

Up the staircase quarterly, Spring issue

The Paragon Press - Koan literary magazine, Aug 2018

Chaleur Magazine, Aug 2018

Twyckenham Notes, Issue 6

Abstract: Contemporary Expressions, Abstract Mag TV Digging Press / Digging Through The Fat - Artist Spotlight

Helix Magazine, Literature+Art, Fall 2017

Deluge Literary and Arts journal, Fall 2017

Create! Magazine-blog, July

Wotisart Magazine #4, July Edition, London

A5 Art Magazine, Portfolio #2, May, London

ArtMaze Magazine, London,Issue 01, Curated selection by Kristin Hjellegjerde

Made in Mind, Issue 08, Jan 2017. Published by Aptalab.

ISSN 2532-1773

2011

Artist Statement #1 Published, Paperback, CICA Press, CICA Museum

Dialogist, Quarterly Poetry & Art Journal, Vol III, Issue III

The Best of 2016, Best entries, IEAA Award, PixaLib, 108 pages

Fresh Paint Magazine, Curated selection by Alice Herrick. February’s issue

Mamut Art Project (juried), Akkok Holding, Istanbul. Catalog

Rising cities (solo), Tio Ilar International art show, General Consulate of Greece, Istanbul Dreamsailors, The Blender Gallery, Catalog

Emergence#2, La revue des artistes emergents, Art contemporain. May 2012

Through the Roadblocks: Curators’ Projects. NeMe Publisher, ISBN 978-9963-9695-4-8

HESA Inprint, Helsinki, Finland

Action field Kodra, D/RAFT, Contemporary Art exhibition

2010

Phantasmagoria (solo), Zina Athanassiadou gallery. Catalog Battlefield, The Art Foundation. Catalog

Inside the Artist's Studio:Alexis Avlamis-Art21 blog by G.Kotretsos, Art21, NY

7 Artists/7 countries, Korean Cultural Service, Beijing, China. Catalog

2009

Encaustic works. Castle Gallery. College of New Rochelle. NY. Catalog

2006

Burning In (solo), Qbox gallery, Futura publications. Catalog

An Outing. The Beltsios Collection, Futura publications. ISBN 960-6654-17-6

Visual arts in Greece, State Museum of Contemporary Art. ISBN 960-87456-9-1

2004

Athens by Art, 83 Contemporary artists in public space in Athens. ISBN 960-7401-68-9

The Blender Gallery

4 Zisimopoulou Street, Athens / 213 0 280 597 / info@theblendergallery.com / www.theblendergallery.com