Born in Athens in 1958, he was an Athens School of Fine Arts student (1979-1985). Between 1986 and 1996 he taught free-hand drawing at the Vakalo School of Arts. He has also illustrated the following books: “Anti tis Siopis” by Lefteris Poulios (instead of silence) 1993, “O afanis thriamvos tis omorfias” by Argyris Chionis (the unseen triumph of beauty) 1995, “Mikri Zoologia” collective work (the little book of zoology) 1998, “I naftilia kyklous kanei” by Philippos Begleris (shipping goes around in circles) 2011, “Ta Rebetika” (the rebetica songs, 5 copperplate engraving prints, 60 copies, Mnimermos Publications) 2012, “Idanikoi Aftocheires” (ideal suicides, K.G. Kariotakis, 12 lithographs, 50 copies, Mnimermos Publications) 2013, “Adam kai Eva” (Adam and Eve, T. Mantzavinos, lithographs, 60 copies, Mnimermos Publications) 2015, “To Koraki” (The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe, T. Mantzavinos, lithographs, 40 copies, Mnimermos Publications) 2016. His works can be found in private and public collections both in Greece and abroad. He lives and works in Athens.
Tassos Mantzavinos
Works
On Art and His Art: Tassos Mantzavinos
The painter Tassos Mantzavinos talks about painting as a unique and irreplaceable means of expression, which uses only colours and shapes to render an image, albeit with the need for this expression as an absolute prerequisite. He confesses that all of his work is, ultimately, about himself and his interpretation of the world around him. He underlines that after the cumulative process of knowledge and information, the painter must discard and remove all that is acquired until he reaches the essence of himself. Remarking upon the different roles of painter and collector, he brings up his erotic paintings that are part of the Sotiris Felios Collection and emphasises the vital need for the existence of collectors who support edgy painting, and those artists that prove, through each of their works, that no subject matter has been exhausted.
Solo Exhibitions
2022
The crypt •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
2022
The Byzantine world of Tassos Mantzavinos •
Byzantine and Christian Museum•
Athens•
2019
Me and the dragon •
Benaki Museum/ Ghika Gallery•
Athens•
(curated by George Mylonas)•
2017
The Woman of Zakynthos •
Travelling exhibition•
National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation – Bookshop, Athens / 2018 National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation – Bookshop, Thessaloniki•
(curated by Giorgos Mylonas)•
2017
Snakes and Ladders •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
(curated by Giorgos Mylonas)•
2016
Edgar Allan Poe – The Raven •
Travelling exhibition•
National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation – BookshopNational Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation – Bookshop, Athens / 2017 National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation – Bookshop, Thessaloniki•
(curated by Giorgos Mylonas)•
2015
Mnesipemona •
16 Fokionos Negri•
Athens•
(curated by Tatiana Spinari-Pollali, organised by Citronne Gallery)•
2013
Ionos Gallery•
Karditsa•
2012
Theorema Art Gallery•
Brussels•
2012
For My Strength Is Made Perfect in Weakness •
Benaki Museum – Pireos Str. Building (138 Pireos St.)•
Athens•
(curated by Elizabeth Plessa)•
2012
Ultramarin •
TinT Gallery•
Thessaloniki•
2012
Karaghiozis and I •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
2010
Angelos and Leto Katakouzenos Foundation•
Athens•
(curated by Louisa Karapidaki, organised by the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens)•
2010
Zoumboulakis Galleries•
Athens•
(curated by Elizabeth Plessa)•
2010
Chess •
K-art Gallery•
Athens•
2008
Galerie Aliquando•
Paris•
2008
Painting 2005-2007 •
TinT Gallery•
Thessaloniki•
2007
TinT Gallery•
Thessaloniki•
2007
Art Space 24•
Athens•
2005
Oionos Gallery•
Karditsa•
2005
Nees Morfes Gallery•
Athens•
2004
TinT Gallery•
Thessaloniki•
2003
Mylonoyanni Art Gallery•
Chania•
2003
Ariadne Art Gallery•
Heraklion•
2003
Nees Morfes Gallery•
Athens•
2002
TinT Gallery•
Thessaloniki•
2000
Nees Morfes Gallery•
Athens•
1999
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1997
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1997
Nees Morfes Gallery•
Athens•
1996
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1995
Anemos Art Gallery•
Athens•
1994
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1994
Drawings •
Nees Morfes Gallery•
Athens•
1993
Art Space 24•
Athens•
1991
Medusa Art Gallery•
Athens•
1989
Medusa Art Gallery•
Athens•
1987
Medusa Art Gallery•
Athens•
1985
Gallery Zalokosta 7 (Gallery 7)•
Athens•
1984
Gallery Zalokosta 7 (Gallery 7)•
2022
2022
2019
2017
2017
2016
2015
2013
2012
2012
2012
2012
2010
2010
2010
2008
2008
2007
2007
2005
2005
2004
2003
2003
2003
2002
2000
1999
1997
1997
1996
1995
1994
1994
1993
1991
1989
1987
1985
1984
Press
Mnesipemona
The work of Tassos Mantzavinos cannot be included in trends or movements; the artist does not follow a ‘school’. What attracts him is historical continuity as expressed in Byzantine iconography, popular art, Karaghiozis and Kontoglou. Mantzavinos creates a distinct expressionist idiom in which any naturalistic tendency is rejected: forms are distorted, colours dissipate. The final result conveys an emotionally-laden, frequently mystical atmosphere.
Memory dominates, personal and collective. It appears and is analysed at times as a historical event, at others as a myth, yet others as a bequeathed tradition. These discrete manifestations of memory are painted as representations of anniversaries, figures of myth, scenes from fairy tales, reconstructions of folk paintings and icons. The subject matter is historical events and folk narratives. Mantzavinos does not differentiate between myth, history or tradition: on the contrary, he combines and transforms events and legends, times and spaces. Castles, warriors, pennants, mottos, mythical figures and saints of the Orthodox faith are depicted as elements/symbols. Often, figures are celebratory, laudatory or festive, but at the same time, the paintings are resonant with fear, awe, and grieving. Mantzavinos does not even hesitate to ‘paint’ language: proverbs, lyrics from demotic songs. At times he uses phrases/symbols from foreign languages, French for example, but the words are ‘grecified’ through misspellings that recall external influences on the history of this country. The clear or confused manner with which language is ‘drawn’ means that it cannot be isolated from the rest of the painting. The written word becomes absorbed, becomes an element of art, a part of the composition.
The paintings and constructions being presented in the “Mnesipemona” exhibition are the latest development of Mantzavinos’s artistic creation. Both in the paintings and the constructions forms are moulded by repeated thick layers of colour: the oils become almost a sculptural material whose surface is thickly engraved with a sharp object, giving the work an almost relief texture. A sense of horror vacui emanates and becomes more intense when densely worked forms are placed on a monochromatic background of black, blue or red hues. His paintings have warriors in besieged castles, in fortified ships, soldiers, Aeneus with the statue of Artemis on his shoulders, Pegasus, the saint battling the dragon, the sirens. These figures from mythology or Christian tradition reflect good and evil as defined by imagination and the collective unconscious where lies the fear of death. The atmosphere is one of a continuous battle, an eternal war, palpable or metaphysical.
The lithographs-comments on the poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe are along the same lines.
With this artistic baggage, Mantzavinos, who carries painful memories of calamities, deals with historical and cultural continuity.
Dr Tatiana Spinari-Pollali Art historian – Citronne Gallery Director