Dampen

Yiannis Efthymiou presents a new body of visual creations entitled “Dampen”, a technical term with multiple interpretations, which indirectly refers to painting using color paper pulp. In this case he chooses as his medium of expression the thick material of paper pulp with its rough texture and uses the colored mass as he would the paints of a color palette exhibiting the same skill, as with any painting medium. Color is a significant structural element in his works; sometimes he applies it in successive layers creating perfectly harmonious images with a strong realistic feel and others he employs strong tonal contrasts in combination with a juxtaposition of images in order to produce drama and tension.

His themes of choice, landscapes and anthropocentric compositions with representational rendering, drift usually between the realms of reality and sometimes fantasy. The morphology of timeless landscapes with the recognizable outline of the Greek countryside exudes an ostensible stillness. Everything appears picturesque and idyllic, with diverse and colorful flora flooding the painted surface. However, the artist likes to hint at a subdued sense of discomfort and prompts the viewer to seek the truth behind the image’s sublime appearance.

There are also many autobiographical references present in his visual narratives, with formed, fleeting or even fragmented images from memories steadily integrated into his illustrations. Repetitive representational points of reference (the house, the van, the motorcycle, the mountain, the horse…), consciously or subconsciously compile the artist’s own mythology and open his painting compositions to numerous interpretations.

Efthymiou loves thematic confrontations and contradictions: sometimes a peaceful landscape is interrupted by the passage of a noisy two-wheeled motorcycle, hence the static image acquires movement and becomes interactive; other times he depicts knights on their mounts and heroes – riders travelling through the plains, converting reality into a fairy tale and alluding to dreamy myths. His anthropocentric works focus mainly on the figure of the carefree motorcycle rider making his way through nature. The artist illustrates thus his love for two-wheeled motor vehicles and conveys the sense of freedom experienced by the motorcyclist as he is speeding through his recognizable vast landscapes.

Efthymiou redefines his art after long journeys and exploration of materials, aesthetic concerns and painting expressions. His paintings, reborn through triumphs and downfalls and freed from the shackles of the past, reemerge with new expressiveness, tangible materiality, dynamic brushstroke, diverse representational techniques and clear forms, exuding internal sincerity.

— Louisa Karapidaki, Art Historian, member of AICA