Landscape Acrylic On Linen Canvas

Pantelis Vitaliotis: "Wake me from sleep, open the gate"

All my past and all my treasure All my tastes against nature My attacks of aphasia I look back and see the future Wake me from sleep, open the gate*

Curated by: Panos Giannikopoulos

Space 52 presents the second solo exhibition by Pantelis Vitaliotis, Wake Me from Sleep, open the Gate, featuring a compelling showcase of paintings, ceramic sculptures, and sound that span the culmination of the artist's silent practice over the last few years.

This body of work invites visitors to explore another world, rich with symbols and secrets, where organic forms undergo a metamorphosis, blurring the lines between representation and abstraction. The artistic choices made by the painter serve as a reflection of the intricate interplay between his psychological state and the unique circumstances in which he finds himself. The brush stroke, colour selection, and compositional arrangement manifest the artist's inner world, capturing the nuances of his emotions, moods, and personal experiences. This intricate dance between the external and internal worlds results in a visual tapestry that resonates sincerely and offers a glimpse into the artist's soul. The canvas, then, is transformed into a visual diary that evolves with every layer of paint applied.

Vitaliotis skillfully disassembles and reassembles his painting objects, allowing parts of his imagery to reappear, moving fluidly through the canvases. This process introduces new formal elements while others are lost or transformed, echoing the historical roots of surrealism and modernism. Additionally, his exploration of religious iconography, both Byzantine and Western, converges with a contemporary narrative around sleep and dream, creating a dialogue with surrounding landscapes that embrace archetypal monuments, rock formations, and domestic intimacy.

The arrangement of works at the gallery entrance immerses viewers in a spatial interplay between the painterly and the sculptural. In Wake Me from Sleep, open the Gate, Vitaliotis uproots religious iconography from cultural metaphors, creating a flatness of perspective that inverts and dimensionally takes shape with ceramics, providing a tangible depth connected with a sense of spirituality.

Vitaliotis opts to capture the essence of objects and scenes in his landscapes. Colours and patterns take precedence, creating a collision of sharp and round shapes that establish a rhythmic sense. Each artwork contains a hidden escape, a keyhole or door, inviting viewers to glimpse a dream world not yet here or one left behind. It is a door towards an inner world of utopian possibilities of queer world-making and also an escape. The artist's interest in constructing narratives leads to the representation of symbolic or metaphoric confined spaces. Vitaliotis often incorporates getaways where elements break down or fall apart.

In Wake Me from Sleep, Open the Gate the paint becomes principal, integral to the narrative and subject itself, with light strokes and almost invisible painterly gestures, while everything blends in total harmony and balance. Including sound in his art practice adds a musical dimension to the works, offering a multisensory experience for the audience. The eye, repeatedly depicted in the paintings, serves as a central element that symbolizes seeing and being watched, visually exploring the world and sharing optical perspectives. Ultimately, brightly coloured and painted with care and affection, the paintings act as a stage, challenging the viewer's perception and encouraging a reading based on dream, memory, fantasy and myth. Vitaliotis explores displacement, disarticulation, and reiteration, inviting visitors to participate actively in decoding the message conveyed by his artworks.

* Joege Socarras, Contre Nature, San Francisco, 1980 (Indoor Life)

Visual Novel 220121

Pantelis Vitaliotis Magneto Untitled, 2018 Acrylic on linen canvas 69 x 74 cm

still life by Magneto

@magneto_scarves

Pantelis_Vitaliotis_Magneto’s silk scarves

Africa 02 - Scarf  100% Silk Twill

Untitled 05 _ Scarf, 100% Silk https://www.instagram.com/magneto_scarves/

Untitled 04 _ _ Scarf Wool & Silk

Acrylic on canvas 

140 x 180 cm

I use antiquities not only to communicate a sense of history but also to suggest a new reading of them. Statues that may have been seen as individual objects in the past are here combined and appear to form a new, composite statue. The stones and pillars, some still bearing the marks of time on their burnt surfaces, compose a complex game of shapes and materials.