It is said that Atlas was standing on the westernmost edge of the earth. Nowadays crisis (not only economical but also political, social and cultural) is more than obvious in the whole ‘western’ world. Contemporary man witnesses, maybe more than ever, the decadence of his systems. Therefore this decadence is the burden he carries. It’s his modern punishment (Nemesis) for his arrogance (Hybris).
Moreover, the Atlases I paint and draw are everyday people. They are young. They have the power of youth. They face an uncertain future. But most of all they carry the weight of themselves. Like all people my Atlases hope and want to believe in their dreams. They enjoy. They weigh on. Each one of us carries a vision which collides with reality. Everyone carries his own dream-world. This is our ‘punishment’ and our duty at the same time: Struggle to change reality and incarnate our personal myth results to be our common ‘burden’.
Seemingly different styles claim their position on my works. Drawing accuracy and color intension, detail and expression, figures, lines, forms and hand-writing tend to co-exist in consistency. This is more obvious in my previous works. Here these opposite elements still exist, in a more concise and direct way but mostly in a more notional way. Power – Fear, Endurance – Despair, Pleasure- Torture, Beauty – Punishment, Struggle – Relinquishment…
Yorgos Papakarmezis
2012
Yorgos Papakarmezis 