DOT POP PORTRAITS
HG Contemporary is pleased to host an exhibition of new works by international artist Philip Tsiaras. As a painter, photographer, ceramicist, bronze and glass sculptor, Tsiaras’ work touches on practically all art forms. In a conceptual sense he believes that each exhibition contains a personal element of surprise.
The new works at HG Contemporary, in fact, explore the world of an obsessed Pointillist artist with a love of Portraiture – The DOT-- paired with popular iconography is infused with a myriad of painted multicolored coordinates, bordering on the scientific of sensualism, or in archaic terms, a modern Roman mosaic.
Tsiaras comes full circle, as a classic black and white photographer in his early career, to realize a new painterly language in realistic hand-dotted personalities from Tyrant to Pop Diva. These paintings embrace the Warhol-ean interest in popular icons, (Tsiaras is himself an avid collector of Warhol’s works), and are fueled by a compulsive attention to particle detail, The DOT, gleaned from Tsiaras’ years as assistant to Lucas Samaras.
The exacting nature of these paintings create a
A tour de force of Pointillist bravura and re-examine such classical figures as: tyrannical Mao and Stalin, internet guru Steve Jobs, fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld, opera diva Maria Callas, America’s pride, Jackie& JFK, and the nobility of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana, etc.
There are also adversarial portraits, DUETS, of characters merged physically in a bond of familial adversity, most notably
Donald Trump & Valdimir Putin.
Philip Tsiaras further introduces an adapted algorithm that allows a digital transfer to weave patterns and elements from his own paintings into the nexus of the new portrait.
The result is an exotic, Impressionist and Surreal foray into the history of portraiture, and to the memory of iconic giants.
Exhibition continues through May