Panos Papadopoulos

Opening reception: Thursday 6 March, 7-9:30 p.m.

Eleni Koroneou Gallery is pleased to present the new solo exhibition by Panos Papadopoulos titled Warm Waters.

Calling the works in this exhibition “landscapes” is both helpful and misleading. The seven paintings do feature forms that can be found in nature, like clouds, trees, or rays of light, and they evoke natural phenomena, such as twilight, fog, or volcanic eruptions. Yet the term is not entirely accurate, in that the paintings do not have a clear spatial orientation that defines them as a panorama or a specific place that could be visited. Instead, they create their own space in which color and light are the main actors.

The titles of the individual works – like Volcano Love, Murky Sunset, and The Cave – offer possibilities, ways of seeing, rather than exact descriptions or explanations. As shown through the abstraction of the works, the artist is aware that every description leaves something unsaid, and avoids precision. He has an ambivalent relationship with language. In the previous decade, he made a series of so-called text paintings that include words and phrases drawn from daily life. The language is applied on the canvas in such a dense way that it stops making sense as a text – it is about the visual impact. In his current series, language has largely fallen silent. There are some scribbles and signs that resemble letters, symbols, or tags, but far more important is the grammar of mark-making, of dots, scrolls, and other types of punctuation that are articulated through color.

Even though the paintings together appear as a rather dark ensemble, each of the paintings started with light, with the application of a vibrant and “loud” layer of color, be it yellow, red, or green. Over time, darker layers – blues and violets, but never pure black – were built up on top, partially covering or muting the colors beneath. Thus a play of light and dark appears, just as alternations between carefully crafted and loose or blurry areas are established. Through such differences, the impression of air or fluidity is evoked. Light plays a crucial role in the paintings, and provides, like in a theater, a tool to direct the attention or define where “the action” is taking place. It leads the eye through different areas, ranging from refined sections, to more loose or harsh passages of paint. The artist is the director of light, adjusting and fine-tuning the temperature of the paintings.

Making these works, Papadopoulos thought about the ancient Greek tragedies that are full of life’s drama, containing genuine despair but also a light touch and absurdity. The balance of ingredients makes them hold true over time. Equally, in terms of painterly influences, voices of different kinds and from different eras are incorporated. There are sweeping gestures like those of the abstract expressionist painters, but also, less obviously, an appreciation for late baroque or rococo paintings, in which dense or overwhelming visual information is set against a background of lightness. The equilibrium between such forces decides if a painting seems right or truthful. Creating a vivid balance might be the actual point of the work, more than a specific mood or the resemblance to a certain landscape.
Text by Jurriaan Benschop

Panos Papadopoulos was born in 1975 in Athens, where he lives and works. He is the co-founder of the art collective Dadada Academy, founded in 2009 in Vienna. He studied in the School of Fine Arts in Vienna (Prof. Markus Prachensky) and was awarded the «Meisterschülerpreis» of the Academy. His recent solo shows include: “Soft teeth hard gaze”, Gallerie Zeller Van Almsick, Vienna (2023); “Purple Rain”, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2023); “Liebes Δrama”, Büro Weltausstellung, Vienna (2022); “26:53 a.m.”, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2019); “Drawing yourself into corners”, Martinetz Gallery, Cologne (2018); “Painting yourself into corners”, Irene Laub Gallery, Brussels (2018). He has participated in group shows, such as: “The Condition of (Im)-Possibility: The Invaders”, Center for the Arts of the Municipality of Athens (2024); “Fragile Geometries”, La Maison du Tibet, Paris (2022); “PTSD”, AMP, Athens, “Five on Paper”, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2021); “5 Artists”, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens (2020); “Landlord Colors: On Art, Economy, and Materiality”, Cranbrook Museum, Detroit, USA, “Achrome”, Irene Laub Gallery, Brussels, “WE NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT DOCUMENTATION”, Martinetz Gallery, Cologne (2019); “Gold und Liebe”, Haus N, Athens (2018); "moi non-moi", Wiener Art Foundation, Athens (2017); Galerie Kunstbüro, Vienna (2016); Galerie Crone, Berlin (2015); 4th Athens Biennale, Athens (2013); Family Business Gallery, New York (2013); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012). In 2015, he was a resident at Hooper Projects art residency, Los Angeles.