Panos Tsagiris – Studies in Symbology
Following an invitation by 68projects, Tsagaris spent the summer working in Berlin. His art revolves around timeless themes, such as humanity, the search for meaning and the sublime. Tsagaris’ mostly abstract collages, paintings and films are always grounded in the medium of photography, revealing an intense fascination with occultism, spirituality and mystic teachings. Following mythological tradition, such as the story of Narcissus, who drowns in his reflection, the mirror in Tsagaris’ work symbolizes the fall of the soul from the divine to the physical realm, from higher consciousness to the profane, while simultaneously exemplifying the purification of collective being.
We are very pleased to open the second half of the year with a solo exhibition by Greek-born and New York City–based artist Panos Tsagaris. Following an invitation by 68projects, Tsagaris spent the summer working in Berlin. His art revolves around timeless themes such as humanity, the search for meaning and the sublime. Tsagaris’ mostly abstract collages, paintings and films are always grounded in the medium of photography, revealing an intense fascination with occultism, spirituality and mystic teachings.
His current series of works is based on photos of mirror still lifes that he assembles in his studio. Once constructed, the reflecting composition is photographed with the artist’s iPhone—“the” symbol of self-presentation and vanity of our time. The photo is subsequently blown up, printed, furnished with further mirrors and re-photographed in another installation. This process of arranging, photographing and printing is repeated until the reflecting qualities of the mirror have been exhausted.
Following mythological tradition, such as the story of Narcissus, who drowns in his own reflection, the mirror in Tsagaris’ work symbolizes the fall of the soul from the divine to the physical realm, from higher consciousness to the profane, while simultaneously exemplifying the purification of collective being.
In the ongoing “Newspaper” series, which he began at the onset of the Greek crisis, the artist partially covers front pages of The New York Times with gold leaf, leaving visible only the newspaper’s masthead and the photographs showing current political events in Greece—mostly scenes of police or state violence against the people. Through this reduction, the artist highlights the narrow thematic scope of the international perception of the crisis-ridden country. At the same time, he demonstrates that the crisis in his home country is by no means purely economic, but rather a serious political one.
Over time, Tsagaris extended the choice of images to include headlines and photographs dealing with events and incidents all over the world, such as demonstrations against police brutality toward Afro-Americans in the USA or the terror attacks in Paris. The artist’s works thus become a “speechless” chronicle of the escalating nature of recent global events. At the same time, they testify to the disproportionate significance of images in today’s news reporting and the extent to which they influence and manipulate us.
As part of the Month of Photography, Panos Tsagaris is also showing works from this series in Athens, Vienna and Luxembourg.
Panos Tsagaris studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design in Vancouver. His works have been shown in numerous international exhibitions, including the 4th Çanakkale Biennial of Contemporary Art in Turkey, BOZAR – Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, Assab One Foundation in Milan, the Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, as well as the 2nd and 4th Thessaloniki Biennial of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki. He is represented in many notable international collections in Greece, Switzerland and the United States.
