OPENING Paris Giachoustidis

About

In the surrealist poem “Life is but a Dream” by Lewis Carroll, the protagonist finds herself in a kind of dream. More famous than the poem is the book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, in which the girl follows a white rabbit and dives into a wondrous world once she enters the rabbit hole. Psychoanalysis, dream interpretation and hallucinogenic drug induced experiences were read into the work. Paris Giachoustidis’ first solo exhibition at KORNFELD Galerie Berlin features new works from a series that specifically explores dreams.

“The Abduction of Paris” depicts a surreal scene in which a woman is carried through the forest by a man. Inspired by “The Abduction of Helen by Paris”, the artist takes up Greek mythology and brings new attributes such as a torch into the action. The theft of Helen was the trigger for the Trojan War. Will the light of the torch bring knowledge and know how to prevent it?

One of the most famous motifs from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” is Narcissus, the beau who rejects the love of others and falls in love with his own reflection. In “The Narcissus Effect”, we see an athletic Narcissus curiously feeling the other side of the reflection. The tanned blond is alone in the picture. With today's viewing habits, one could almost think he is scrolling on a screen with his index finger. We don't know what he sees in the reflection. We can only guess.

Giachoustidis’ pictures are painted in intense colors and are full of (homo)erotic allusions. Some are divided into two parts by a horizontal or vertical line, creating two halves of the picture. They show people lost alone in a dream or (queer) couples during sexual acts. Reflections of unfulfilled longings, secret dreams or sexual fantasies are hinted at. One recognizes many clues, but Giachoustidis does not make it easy for us. The nudes remain mysterious and enraptured. Image motifs from advertising, pornographic films and fairy tales are combined and linked to form a new story. Aesthetically, he makes use of kitsch, among other things, plays with painterly styles and winks at us in an ironic and subversive way. We are seduced into voyeurism.

In one picture, a young man, perhaps sitting on the moon, looks dreamily at a blue ball with green paint strokes, reminiscent of our home planet Earth. He is wearing headphones and seems to be dreaming himself into another world with the music. Perhaps a self-portrait? Not unlikely, after all, the title of the exhibition, “Paris in Wonderland”, refers to the artist in a very wondrous yet fascinating world.

Paris Giachoustidis (*1990, Serres, Greece) holds a Master's degree in Art from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and the Weißensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin, Germany. In his artistic practice, he translates historical and contemporary motifs into realistic drawings and paintings.

https://galeriekornfeld.com/exhibitions/paris-in-wonderland