George Raftopoulos’s recent paintings display a fresh energetic approach, hearkening back to his original concerns with mark-making. These new works have been given more room to breathe, movement and space allowing the eye to explore the path of the marks and also to find reprieve in large soft fields of colour. Interested with the accumulation of the process of this mark-making, we can observe the underlying structure, literally the bones of the painting.
The artist states, “This work is a reaction to change almost a point of departure. As my work references memory and travel this body of work almost reflects the immediate feelings of leaving one place to embark on a new place. Much like my parents whom left Greece in the 50’s I am almost chasing the same departure. the lure of bigger things and primarily the influence upon my work. Past works have been heavily glazed and masked with a total overlay of colour which almost masked all the information beneath the surface. The current works seem to rear a voice of painterly freedom, one which exposes the minor and major marks that combine to create a great painting.
My concerns here are to expose and allow the viewer within the life or the nucleus of the picture itself. Areas are exposed with immediate mark making, exposed and standing as strong as what is occurring on the surface. In a sense the topographical mapping of the mind is prevalent as an ongoing concern, the depths of memory are reflected by marks that are abstract and bold floating into the picture plain, Overall I am commenting on the experience of life and it’s mythology, which seems to automatically present itself on the canvas.”
Raftopoulos was born in Sydney in 1972, the son of Greek parents. His childhood, from the age of five, was spent in the New South Wales town of Grenfell. In the 1970s, the
Raftopouloses found themselves to be the only Greek family in the town. In this context, as a youth, George ruminated on questions of cultural identity. They are questions his paintings continue to plumb. Raftopoulos speaks of his painting as “mapping the memory”. Re-enforced by a strength of line, abstracted letters and numeric codes that navigate George’s personal mythology in action he refers to his paintings incorporating fragmentary references to places he has been, events that he has witnessed, and the sensations he has experienced.
He has exhibited extensivley within Australia and in France, Hong Kong, New York. His works are included in the collections of the Gold Coast Art Gallery, Queensland; University of Western Sydney, Sydney; The Art Trust, Sydney and Melbourne; ABN AMRO, Sydney as well as many other corporate and private collections in Australia and overseas.
Link to Excerpts from essay by Peter Pinson Professor
Link to Belle Magazine article
