"Untitled"

Hooper Projects Residency, Los Angeles 2015

Panos Tsagaris’ practice has always been informed by his spiritual explorations and mystical curiosities. Interested in the idea of purification as it appears in different mystical traditions, Panos’ earlier works took mostly the form of ink with gold leaf drawing, and photography, the latter as documentation of private performances. His recent series are based photographs of mirror still lives that he puts together in his studio. In mythological tradition, as in the story of Narcissus that drowned in his own reflection, the mirror symbolizes the falling of the soul from the divine to the material, from higher consciousness to lower being. Once constructed, the highly reflective composition is photographed using the artist’s iPhone, our contemporary mirror and the epitome of our vanity. The picture is blown-up and printed out, more mirrors are added and the new installation is re-photographed. The process of printing and photographing continues until the reflective qualities of the mirror are exhausted. In his effacing of the mirror with the re-photographing, the layered screen printing and the use of gold leaf –another symbol of the divine- Panos aims once again to the purification of our collective being.

text by Artemis Baltoyianni

Participating artists:

William Bradley, Joey Frank, Panos Papadopoulos, Panos Tsagaris.