Vasilis Avramidis: Outskirts

The Contemporary London is delighted to present ‘Outskirts’, our second solo exhibition of exceptional oil paintings on wood and canvas by Vasilis Avramidis. Through the prism of painting, art history and memory, Avramidis’ Outskirts is an intricate and intimate exploration and elevation of neglected and dislocated architectural elements, nature and the quotidian. Following the critical acclaim of his previous solo sell-out show, Avramidis’ Outskirts is a demonstration of the power of beautiful and exceptional painting to transform quotidian architecture and nature to an engaging and engulfing visual escapism.

Art history fills our visual memory with powerful imagery that competes with and many times transcends nature itself. For example, the idealization of the image in Renaissance art, the dramatic and theatrical atmosphere of 16-17th century oil painting, the sublime and emblematic character of minimalist art and architecture, and the unexpected compositions of expressionism all build on the banality of the overlooked and transform these flattened landscapes to another context distinct from their original condition and in dialogue with the medium and history of painting.

Building on this tradition, Avramidis’ beautiful, familiar but dreamily impossible vistas are modern day landscapes exploring the fragmented and isolated nature of memory and belonging. Bathed in deep rich colours and interplays of light and shadow Avramidis’ marginalised private worlds are transformed into soft and intricate textures of natural cascading landscapes and erect beacons of man made structures juxtaposed and enveloped within them.

While referencing historical art practices, Avramidis’ oil paintings are an unusual form of escapism from visual experiences of the everyday contemporary notion of landscape. Avramidis’ landscapes locate themselves in the outskirts, like neglected territories in former tourist regions or dormant semi-industrial zones located outside a city. Although apparently impossible, the landscapes are not completely surreal but are governed by basic natural and visual laws such as gravity, cohesion or perspective. The works detail the random, unplanned and uninspired. However, elements within the paintings exist in the outer regions of our memory and speak about themselves, as well as the unpredictable processes of art itself. Consequently, as opposed to alienating you from the unexpected beauty these structures embody, when seen through the process of Avramidis’ painting, they create a form of escapism that draws and engulfs you in the visual experiences of the Outskirts.