Licht und Verklärung
Licht und Verklärung
Tolis Tatolas’ works deal closely with architecture. The artist moves unrestricted among diverse materials and techniques. His artworks focus mainly on volumes, geometry and light and his artistic code is based on the dynamic tension between incomplete geometric forms (rectangular, square, or round forms and lines) and bright colours.
Tatolas depicts volumes of buildings in dramatic close up shots. He extracts the object from its frame of reference, he acquires it, annuls it, redirects it, and proposes unlimited potential approaches to the object. The lack of frame of reference and scale increase the formalistic approach, stress on typology and install these works in a purely aesthetic ground. The subject of the photograph dissolves and disappears from the project, while the artist is orientated towards a purely abstract artistic expression. The surface of the work displays its own reality, instead of acting as an exhibit of the object in frame. Tatolas creates an autonomous structure of shapes and colors, bearing an independent aesthetic appeal.
Photographs of architectural details, volumes of water or sky as photographed through the buildings, become the starting point for collage and painted works - the other two sections of his work. In collage, the photographer shred photos into equally sized parts, and then recomposes them in a way that seems incidental. These works refer to automation, intuition and the random composition, that we find both in Hans Arp’s early work inspired by Dada (Collages with Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance, c. 1917) and in contemporary scatter art. The final work relates to the original image, but simultaneously eliminates it, always bearing a reference to instinctive, or otherwise almost automatic artistic creation.
In the section of overpainted photographs, the usual canvas of the painting is now being replaced by a photographic basis, a "substrate". The lines intersect on the printed image and create a strong sense of texture as the artist modifies the length and intensity of the lines on the paper. He makes subtle shades while playing with the reflection of light and tonal variations in an almost monochromatic environment. This series of works are characterized by an almost hypnotic, rhythmic flow that recalls the automatic drawing. The artist's hand moves automatically, effortlessly, revealing the unconscious.
In Tolis Tatolas’ works, the relation between the starting point and the final form of the work is never consolidated. The artist explores the mental, perhaps even spiritual effects of light, color and form, giving his work a metaphysical aspect. He quests beauty in form, space and light, and converts architectural details in abstract harmonic structures.
Dr Tatiana Spinari- Pollali Professor of Art History
Boston College, Massachusetts
Tolis Tatolas’ works deal closely with architecture. The artist moves unrestricted among diverse materials and techniques. His artworks focus mainly on volumes, geometry and light and his artistic code is based on the dynamic tension between incomplete geometric forms (rectangular, square, or round forms and lines) and bright colours.
Tatolas depicts volumes of buildings in dramatic close up shots. He extracts the object from its frame of reference, he acquires it, annuls it, redirects it, and proposes unlimited potential approaches to the object. The lack of frame of reference and scale increase the formalistic approach, stress on typology and install these works in a purely aesthetic ground. The subject of the photograph dissolves and disappears from the project, while the artist is orientated towards a purely abstract artistic expression. The surface of the work displays its own reality, instead of acting as an exhibit of the object in frame. Tatolas creates an autonomous structure of shapes and colors, bearing an independent aesthetic appeal.
Photographs of architectural details, volumes of water or sky as photographed through the buildings, become the starting point for collage and painted works - the other two sections of his work. In collage, the photographer shred photos into equally sized parts, and then recomposes them in a way that seems incidental. These works refer to automation, intuition and the random composition, that we find both in Hans Arp’s early work inspired by Dada (Collages with Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance, c. 1917) and in contemporary scatter art. The final work relates to the original image, but simultaneously eliminates it, always bearing a reference to instinctive, or otherwise almost automatic artistic creation.
In the section of overpainted photographs, the usual canvas of the painting is now being replaced by a photographic basis, a "substrate". The lines intersect on the printed image and create a strong sense of texture as the artist modifies the length and intensity of the lines on the paper. He makes subtle shades while playing with the reflection of light and tonal variations in an almost monochromatic environment. This series of works are characterized by an almost hypnotic, rhythmic flow that recalls the automatic drawing. The artist's hand moves automatically, effortlessly, revealing the unconscious.
In Tolis Tatolas’ works, the relation between the starting point and the final form of the work is never consolidated. The artist explores the mental, perhaps even spiritual effects of light, color and form, giving his work a metaphysical aspect. He quests beauty in form, space and light, and converts architectural details in abstract harmonic structures.
Dr Tatiana Spinari- Pollali Professor of Art History
Boston College, Massachusetts