Born in Arta in 1968, he graduated in 2002 from the Athens School of Fine Arts, where he studied Painting under Chronis Botsoglou. A year later he won the Frissiras Museum European painting contest. Works by him can be found in private collections and museums both in Greece and abroad. He lives and works in Athens.
Vassilis Papanikolaou
Works
On Art and His Art: Vassilis Papanikolaou
The painter Vassilis Papanikolaou formulates his belief that a work of art must be functional, expressing the opinion that art is not limited to works of art, but includes anything that has been designed, since we live in a world where everything is designed. Referring to his work Landscape, which is part of the Sotiris Felios Collection, and the absolute simplicity of its construction, he confirms his pursuit for a suggestive kind of painting, made with the fewest possible elements.
Solo Exhibitions
2019
Kaplanon Galleries•
Athens•
2017
Galleria Grafica Tokio•
Tokyo•
2016
Gavras Gallery•
Athens•
2014
Galleria Grafica Tokio•
Tokyo•
2012
Gavras Gallery•
Athens•
2012
Vassilis Papanikolaou: Works from the Sotiris Felios Collection •
16 Fokionos Negri•
Athens•
2008
Gavras Gallery•
Athens•
2003
Ekfrasi – Yianna Grammatopoulou Gallery•
Athens•
2000
Art Space 24•
Athens•
2019
Kaplanon Galleries•
Athens•
2017
Galleria Grafica Tokio•
Tokyo•
2016
Gavras Gallery•
Athens•
2014
Galleria Grafica Tokio•
Tokyo•
2012
Gavras Gallery•
Athens•
2012
Vassilis Papanikolaou: Works from the Sotiris Felios Collection •
16 Fokionos Negri•
Athens•
2008
Gavras Gallery•
Athens•
2003
Ekfrasi – Yianna Grammatopoulou Gallery•
Athens•
2000
Art Space 24•
Athens•
Press
The more horrifying this world becomes,
the more art becomes abstract;
while a world at peace produces realistic art.
Paul Klee
It is a great blessing for a painter if he discovers his path in art early on. If, in other words, he manages to present a new world, entirely of his own making. I have the feeling that Vassilis Papanikolaou did not have to try too hard to achieve what other painters search for throughout their career and, in most cases indeed ultimately fail or, even if they succeed, fall into the trap of mere style. I had the good fortune to see the painter’s earliest works, those, I would say, that he first drew when he was still a child. Even in those drawings, one can easily discern the artist’s faith in his creation. Vassilis Papanikolaou does not hesitate, nor has he ever hesitated. He followed his own path early on, while his contemporaries, and even older painters, become trapped in imitation and the reproduction of tired old beliefs. Does painting have a mission? Does it strive to give answers to man’s greatest problems? Does it serve as the starting point for deeper philosophical reflections? Is tasteful painting, that which gives the viewer pleasure, condemnable? Ιs a painter’s subject matter the desideratum, used to shake up and shock the viewer?
When I first saw works by Vassilis Papanikolaou that simply represent objects, such as, for example, a coffee pot and a cup on a piece of wood, I felt a shiver go through me, a sensation unique and indefinable, like that of a spring breeze that makes you lose your mind. I felt my eyes unable to believe what they saw; I felt myself trying to deepen my gaze so that I would not miss even the subtlest aspect of his work. This work that emits nobility and truth, sensitivity and emotion, mental process and freedom at the same time, not only urges me into deeper reflection, not only gives me the necessary breath of life, but it also makes me look at things differently. And all this while Papanikolaou himself has no interest in convincing anyone. The only thing he cares about is to show what he dreams about, without commitments and limitations. In Greece, because people do not believe their eyes, they do not believe in anyone who has something to propose. This exhibition is an opportunity for us to open our eyes.
Paris A. Tsevas