Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis is delighted to present his art exhibition titled, ‘Beyond Gender & Sexual Orientation’.
Bellapaisiotis’ artwork is a reflective journey on identity and it provokes renewed hope to people who have lost their voice.
The artist interprets art as exhilarating and intriguing, and for this exhibition he has drawn inspiration from the concept of life, death and beauty coupled with a yearning desire for social acceptance. Hence his attempt to transcribe life onto dead wood, which he collected from the streets of New York, bestowing it with another chance to ‘live’ and ‘breathe’ in an altered form. An exhibition which juxtaposes beauty and imperfections, one can undeniably identify recycled elements in all the paintings, which have often been a natural consequence of the artist’s recycled thoughts and emotions.
In the same way, Bellapaisiotis’ art often depicts circles, representing the cycle of life and the course of an old circle giving life to a new one. ‘Sometimes we are caught up trying to achieve what we think is perfection missing the imperfections that naturally make something real and unique,’ he says with assured concern, emphasizing that his philosophy is to ‘allow the viewer to feel the hand of the creator on the painting through the brush strokes and the perfect imperfections.’
By turning spices as curry or clove into powder and rubbing them with my fingers on the painting using it as part of my color pallet sometimes would cause blisters. This would give me an even more personal connection with my subject’.
Commenting on his creative journey for this exhibition, Bellapaisiotis says that his endeavor was to capture the inner emotional world of humans in our society and examine how it is affected by the stereotypes which eventually become the norm.
‘My voice on this subject became the visual world for this series of paintings,’ he explains, ‘my focal point for these creations is to celebrate the diversity we see today and highlight its beauty which for some is nothing but shame and sometimes harsh painful judgment.’
A multi-faceted artist, Bellapaisiotis is also a composer and fashion designer, yet he says that he feels ultimate freedom and catharsis when painting. His intricate and evocative artwork is a stunning amalgam of these three arenas.
In addition, he has composed the soundtracks specifically for the exhibition.
ʺThe music piece is going to take the spectator into a circular journey. It starts with the birth with the lightness of the discovery of one’s self-developing into the heavier challenges that socially one has to face, that leads to the realization and the end/closure and death with hope as the conclusive element of the composition which serves as the rebirth of a new journey. ’’ Bellapaisiotis tells us.
Part of the proceeds will be donated to Sophia foundation for children.
Exhibition by Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis. March 6-10. Baker Tilly offices, Nicosia. Opening night 7 pm with guest of Honour, Ambassador Andreas D. Mavroyiannis. Thursday-Friday 5 pm-10 pm and Saturday-Sunday: 10 am-10 pm. Tel: 22-458500
