Even at an early age, Pavlos Samios knew what he wanted to do in life. He was certain that he would become a painter. His talent in design was also confirmed by his own father for whom he designed shoes in their shoe-workshop.
Early in his career, he became very keen on religious painting as he keeps painting frescoes in churches till the present day. He attended courses on design in Pavlos Sarafianos art workshop and was admitted to the Athens School of Fine Arts –where he has been teaching as a Professor since 2000– in the Workshop for Greek-Orthodox Religious Painting fresco-byzantine icons-manuscripts.
At the Preparatory course he was taught by Nikos Nikolaou, who put emphasis on design and on the tradition arisen from Ancient Greek Art, as well as by Giannis Moralis. The latter’s intervention in the contemporary art issues and events resulted in his long-established position in the Greek modern art. When in Paris, Pavlos Samios met the painter G. Tsarouhis and the composer Manos Hatzidakis so he was in the favorable position to join that unique group of intellectuals who frequented “Magemenos Avlos” lounge at the time. It was a period of most eminent intellectual collaboration, which gave an outmost example of the way in which painting got involved in an interaction process with other forms of artistic expression, thus having a profound effect on the young artist.
As far as Pavlos Samios is concerned, life is closely interwoven with love. As he has stated himself “everything originates from love …my painting is nothing but daily life seen in a quite metaphysical way”.
The exhibition in Ikastikos Kiklos though does not aim to familiarizing the visitor with the painter’s well-known series of work. On the contrary, it houses a succession of bold nocturnal compositions that strike a balance between abstract and representational painting. The narrative style of the exhibition titled Under the Moonlight focuses on the moment when expectation for a love partner prevails, whereupon time itself pauses and the particular moment becomes eternal.
The paintings are titled by specific hours, aiming to commenting on the topic of “time”, on the waiting hours, on the loneliness felt at night-time. This aspect in combination with the changes in mood of the awaiting person or the underlying eagerness we experience when expecting the arrival of a love partner are the feelings that create the overall “atmosphere” of his recent work.
These canvasses are overwhelmed by enlarged tables that act as a background. “You place ideas on the table, you place a fantasy” says their creator. The various intimate objects the visitor can distinguish in these well-structured compositions create and maintain a coherent link to the artist’s past work. The objects go beyond their own utility existence and adopt a symbolic nature, tell a story either real or imaginary.
The interpretation of each work of art is the one provided by the person who sees through it and not the one intended by its creator.
The freedom of choice in the interpretation and assemblage of the storyline in progress defines the interactive relation between the visitor and the work of art, as well as the unimpeded “dialogue” between them. Samios’ artwork adopts a sort of narrative lyricism. The technique of paint-brush strokes in the expressionistic style and the use of daring colors, the contrast between surfaces painted in the cold color gamma of green-blue-purple and those in familiar red terra-cotta shades creates a tension. The depiction of nocturnal scenes makes reference to a dreamlike nature. For life and art lovers, this exhibition is an essential milestone in the work of the Artist Pavlos Samios as it consolidates his own relation with objects, his experiences, love, and his personal “language” of painting.