Xchristakos was born in 1948 at Pincess Islands (Istanbul-Turkey) from Greek parents. He is a self taught painter, except for lessons he took on drawing.
The two cultures in which he lived (the western and the eastern) endowed him with rich knowledge on the art of painting, but also their impact put an unbearable pressure on him. The experience of such an impact will mark his then work, since his paintings betrothed to sculpture compose “paintings-sculptures”, in which the artist stages sculptured humans, at times encaged and at times on the run.
In 1974, in the middle of a whirl, leaves Turkey and travels to Europe (Paris-Brussels) where he participates in some group exhibitions.
Presently the artist lives and works in Athens.
"How one certifies the right of being different?
How much equal are we in these times of globalization?
Which are the limits of our choices?
Who is responsible for our collective categorization?
Little people of XChristakos wink at us, blank faces deprived of any individuality thus expressionless, but at the same time rather loquacious. The slightest differentiation on the slump of the shoulders, a hand moving differently, randomly placed creases in the suit and the uniformity is gone.
Desired or imposed uniformity?
We try to discern from the crowd or to blend in so not to arouse any suspicions and excite the masses?
Little people tell their own stories even without a mouth. They contract, they expand, they grow taller and they hide behind shadows. They are all very decent, at least on the outside.
But inside, behind the surface of the canvas, behind the materials lays their true story. The one that their creator presupposed and the one we recognized.
These stories are as many as the gazes they met. After all we are still entitled to perceive the world with our own eyes."
Nana DARIOTI - Journalist-----------------------------------------
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