I am a painter with an affinity towards Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Brice Marden,
Matisse, Moralis, Cezanne, Richard Diebenkorn, Caravaggio, Rembrandt,
Tintoretto, Masaccio, Whistler, Monet, Pollock, Rothko, Mondrian, Bazaine,
Giacometti, Morandi, and many more.
I have gradually moved towards non-objective abstraction, but carry realistic tonal
relationships. I think painting is like philosophy. To make it one has to be serious
about it, even when mocking at it, and has to operate within certain boundaries for
the work to compare to its ancient, past, and late history.
When ever I am called to write something about my work, there arise the same
questions: Should I talk about something which after all is only silent? Am I helping
anyone talking about it? The answer to both questions is no.
The more I read about it, the more I pass on to my students. Only a handful of them
are willing to accept the difficulty that comes with it. Fewer will take on the task of
thinking and writing about it. Looking isn’t hard. Seeing is harder. Demystifying art,
now this I’d like to be there when it happens.
Perhaps what makes it interesting is its democratic character. There is no one way
of interpreting it. Painting is safe, in a way; safe from Plato, Lyotard, or any other
person who has written about it. The same goes for people who practiced it,
Picasso, Duchamp, Miro.
It will always be there for someone to study, to try to see, to listen to the subtle
nuances that give it that special character only compared to music, seducing the
senses, analyzing it.
George-Andrew Makridis
Exhibition opening 14 January 2013
IONION CENTER FOR THE ARTS AND CULTURE.