Yannis Stavrou
Encyclopedia
Yannis Stavrou is a contemporary Greek artist, painter.
Yannis Stavrou (Γιάννης Σταύρου in Greek) was born in Thessaloniki
, Greece
. He originally studied sculpture
at the Athens School of Fine Arts before painting
won him over. He currently lives and works in Athens
.
He has done thirty one solo shows and participates in group exhibitions.
His landscapes
and seascapes are not classical in style as the sea is just a motive for his colour palette while the shapes of his ships are more conceptual
and impressionist than figurative
.
After a quite long period of involvement in a form of "modern academism" he is now going through a new stage, in which the form becomes more abstract
, but the method of painting and the technique of paint and brush follow strictly the old classic methods.
To the brush intervenes the knife in numerous layers of colour; in contradiction to the mat effect in his older work, his recent paintings are glistening - this enhances strongly the richness and the real texture of the oil colour (oil painting
).
Dr Manos Biris, Professor of the Architecture History in the National Technical University of Athens
(NTUA), wrote about Yannis Stavrou in 2000 (excerpt from the introduction to Yannis Stavrou's catalog under the title "Greece in Colours", 2000):
Newspaper articles
Yannis Stavrou (Γιάννης Σταύρου in Greek) was born in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. He originally studied sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
at the Athens School of Fine Arts before painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
won him over. He currently lives and works in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
He has done thirty one solo shows and participates in group exhibitions.
His landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
and seascapes are not classical in style as the sea is just a motive for his colour palette while the shapes of his ships are more conceptual
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
and impressionist than figurative
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
.
After a quite long period of involvement in a form of "modern academism" he is now going through a new stage, in which the form becomes more abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
, but the method of painting and the technique of paint and brush follow strictly the old classic methods.
To the brush intervenes the knife in numerous layers of colour; in contradiction to the mat effect in his older work, his recent paintings are glistening - this enhances strongly the richness and the real texture of the oil colour (oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
).
Art criticism
The art historian, critic Manos Stefanidis wrote about Yannis Stavrou’s work in 2006 (excerpt from the essay under the title "Glass Eyes, Resurrected Gazes - On Yannis Stavrou's Paintings" by Manos Stefanidis):
“I see his paintings as a challenge for an inner voyage, an opportunity for a resurrection of the gaze - a prolongation of real life. His compositions are structured around two opposite poles: tenderness and a sturdy rhythm; a sense for detail and understanding of the whole; a kind of sentimental escape to mirthful images, as Kosmas Politis would put it, and a preoccupation with form, represented in an unadorned and solid fashion. His paintings keep alive the memory of those places he fell in love with in the past or create novel seas for new journeys. Here plasticity is achieved via abstractiveAbstract artAbstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
processes, and elsewhere a tiny light - one catalytic brushstroke - unveils a well-hidden secret. His heavy blues are electrified with orange iridescences and his reds never leave his blacks or dark greens unaccompanied.”
Dr Manos Biris, Professor of the Architecture History in the National Technical University of Athens
National Technical University of Athens
The National Technical University of Athens , sometimes simply known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions of Greece....
(NTUA), wrote about Yannis Stavrou in 2000 (excerpt from the introduction to Yannis Stavrou's catalog under the title "Greece in Colours", 2000):
"Yannis Stavrou is a painter who touches upon the city's metaphysical tissue. An offspring himself of the lucky generation, which witnessed the historical heart-rending moments of Greek urban centers, and more closely so in his city of ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, he takes us by the hand, striding with confident strokes back to our legendary childhood evoked by his images; deep down into the bottomless hollow of Thermaikos harbour, where the massive metal shapes of ships are hovering all aloof, emerging through the midst of cracking-dawn's fog."
External links
- More details about Yannis Stavrou (biography, images of paintings, publications) are found in the artist’s official blog
Newspaper articles
- "Opening Hydra's artistic windows to light" — Athens News newspaper, August 8, 2000
- "Cities under Stavrou's spell" — Athens News newspaper, December 7, 2001
- "Stavrou's Floating Towns" — Athens News newspaper, May 5, 2002
- "Stavrou paints life, years, people" — Athens News newspaper, December 13, 2002