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Aranya Art Center is delighted to present an eponymous solo exhibition by Greek artist Apostolos Georgiou, featuring nearly 30 works on canvas and paper completed from 2017 to 2023.

Like the absurd and witty sketches on stage, Georgiou portrays anonymous figures using coarse brushwork, modeled on the artist himself and symbolizing a community of his contemporaries. “I am an ordinary person who shares the joys, sorrows, desires, and fears of everyone,” the artist explains. The figures seem intimate yet indifferent to each other, preoccupied with their little worlds, either wearily or comically coping with life. The artist claims his works are “failed representations,” which is not necessarily a pessimistic expression; instead, he willingly shares with the viewer that “I have also been frustrated.” These performative figures and images are symbolic in revealing the alienation in contemporary relationships and the dilemma of individual existence.

In Georgiou’s paintings, we may observe many familiar life scenes. However, the “everyday” is not his subject, but rather translates the “thoughts and ideas” from his everyday life into pictures. Since these specific ideas may not come true, their narrative and logic hence come undone when depicted, resulting in a pictorial anachronism that brings about many missing meanings. Like traps, such missing pieces lure the viewer to introspect into their own lives. Georgiou considers himself a provocateur, and his painted work “wouldn’t lie,” concealing a serious creative attitude beneath his dark humor.

Georgiou is also a jazz aficionado, and this exhibition will feature the artist’s carefully compiled playlist to accompany the viewing experience of the show, offering a diverse cultural perspective to dive into the artist’s creative world.

Organized by Aranya Art Center Director Damien Zhang and Curatorial Assistant Gao Liangjiao, “Apostolos Georgiou” will open to the public from August 20, 2023, and on view through October 15, 2023