1 ''Hortus Clausus''.Whats the difference between this exhibition and all the others until now?
- This exhibition at the Benaki Museum, with its retrospective nature, marks a period of my work, going back some twenty years or more. It includes artworks from various periods: From the hammered sculptures of the nineties, which were exclusively welded and were my own handiwork in my studio without any third-party intervention, to my current sculptures, which are cast.
2 Is there space for young artists in Greece? Is art a value that gets higher in every ''crisis'' we live?
- There is always room for those who love what they do and invest in it with love. Whatever the field, when you love what you do and this goes hand-in-hand with hard work and consistency, you can enter the field successfully and have a presence, irrespective of the existence of a financial crisis. Art is first and foremost a life investment. It is something unique and unsurpassable, which helps us escape and
decompress from a brutal, violent everyday reality. We can only evaluate art as such.
3 If you had to choose between painting and sculpture?
-Conjoined twins are destined to live in harmony with each other. That’s why I can’t give you a clear and precise response concerning which of the two dominates, because painting is an inseparable part of sculpture and vice versa. I adore the blast of colours, the violent eruption that violently disrupts the unfaltering white of a blank canvas and creates fields of action, full of intensity and promises. At the same time, sculpture, with its dynamic expansion in three real dimensions, that dominate space with their own intensity and impose a distinct feeling of domination. Sculpture stops you in your tracks and leads to a different form of approach than does painting. Both, however, serve precisely the same principle.
4 Whats the best piece of art that is your personal ''stigma'' as an artist?
- It isn’t easy to distinguish one piece alone, but I can name more general cycles of work as emblematic stations in my progress. I believe that anyone, who follows the art scene in Greece and overseas, can recognize my work due to its particular features. I believe that my major retrospective exhibition OPUS OMEGA, which started out in major museums in China, before moving to Chicago and thence to Belgium and France, is a definite career highlight, as is the installation of my monumental 12-metre sculptures COSMICON and KELYPHOS at the Midtown Mall in China.
5 Is there -lets say- a nation that understands art more than the others, and why? Or art is just a personal matter and has nothing to do with the nationality?
-Cultivating culture is what makes a difference. Certain societies cultivate the culture of art as an integral part of their educational system. In Greece such a thing is entirely unknown.
6 What would you suggest to a young person that wants to be an artist? It takes talent, hard work, ''high class'' connections?
-First and foremost, to be absolutely certain of the fact that they wish to enter the art sector and are serious in the attempt; after that work, work, and more work, rather
than a series of barren and pointless social encounters. The artist will find something secret hidden within himself. Nowhere else. An artist is by nature a lone wolf.
7 You get your inspiration from..?
-Every little thing around me. Everything is a potential source of inspiration. Everything has a reason for existence, however trivial it might appear.
8 Twenty years of sculpture research. What did you learn in all those years?
- To live alone in my world.
9 Your next exhibition?
-Solo retrospective at the BENAKI MUSEUM from February 4th.
in Luxemburg from February 24th
exhibition at PARK SOLVEY in Brussels, within the framework of the Greek Presidency of the E.U to March 2nd 2014.
Solo exhibition at the ABBAYE NEUMUSTER Museum to March 24th (Painting / Sculpture) and in May a solo.
10 You travel and work a lot, in many countries but you insist living in Greece even in
these difficult times. Are you an optimist about this situation? Is there ''light in the end of the tunnel?
- I can’t move away from Greece. It is my personal choice to live here, despite the many offers I’ve received from time to time to change my base. I prefer to wave the Greek flag with my exhibitions. My contribution is only a small light, but it’s better than nothing. As regards our prospects, we simply can’t remain as we are. For thousands of years our country has lived its tragedies, but we always keep our heads held high. This might be what annoys our international buddies. The fact that, whatever stone they turn, they encounter Greek civilisation.
