OR HOW A YOUNG GREEK ARTIST HAS MANAGED TO GAIN WORLD RECOGNITION AMONGST THE CACOPHONY THAT IS GREECE AT THIS POINT IN TIME

Savvas Tsestos Limnatitis

 

Let’s get one thing straight: I am a staunch believer that the roots of great art have been buried deep in the soil of poverty, despair and heartache. Whereas wealth and compliancy can only breed plagiarism and a horde of would-bes, what-ifs and the whole sordid affair, that take themselves for too seriously than what their credentials imply. Need prove? Take a look at Greece. The further the land of our ancestors slides down the bottomless pit of economic crisis, the more desperate –and hopeless- its people become, the new heights the art it produces reaches. Great music, great films, great books. Art form of all kinds is on the rise, often reaching that ever elusive world audience.

Take Nikos Tsokos for example. A young artists from the small Chalkida town of the Evvoia region who has managed the unthinkable: to escape the peculiarities and solitude of modern era Greece and find his place, his niche under the sun. Or the suns, to be precise. French, Dutch and the US of A to be precise. Even the United Emirates have bowed to the magnificence of his art and his creations, offering him not only space in their galleries, but also lines in blogs, internet sites and magazines.

Hunion recently caught up with Tsokos and put him through the paces. Who is he though? Nikos Tsokos was born sometime ago in Chalkida, where he still leaves, breaths and creates. His inwards into the crazy world of art go back quite a number of years ago, when as a star-eyed 10 year old he started painting rocks he used to find laying around the country side. Next stage? A stint in prestigious art and design institute of Athens, right in the heart of the Plaka neighbourhood, under the watchful eye of the nearby Acropolis. After his studies in interior design came to an end, he was employed at one of the country’s most well-known companies dealing in the world of furniture and space design. He lasted at Neoset for seven years and then he decided to go solo.

Ladies and gentlemen I give you Nikos Tsokos.

 

When did you first feel the muse’s hand resting on your shoulder? The need to express yourself through art?

I must have been around ten. I vividly remember it. As if it was yesterday. I started painted on rocks that I used to find in the country side. From then onwards I begun to create. I could hear the muse wispering in my ear.

 

At the end of the day, where do the scales tip? Wish or need?

Wish and a passion for creation. I want to create. All the time, without a pause. On a broad selection of medium. Decoration, painting, sculpture. I breathe art, it provides me with oxygen, it keeps me strong and alive. Even when there are no requests I forge on creating. I put all my passion into it, I take my dreams and transform them to art. I can’t imagine my life without art. I need to create across the board. I constantly need to express myself.

 

Why did you choose this particular style? Why not something more conventional like painting only;

I didn’t choose it. It chose me. It came out effortlessly .But with stormy with passion. It reveals the connection the Greeks have with the sea and the sun. It indicates how strong characters we are as people, as a nation. How we overcome difficult times. It transforms our strength as people that stand proudly and with an iron will. We bend but do not break! I have linked marble, sand and materials that our ancestors created with. I have combined ancient Greek art with a more fashionable approach.

 

How would you describe yourself? As a sculptor, a painter or simply an artist?

Like you have seen I have been involved with decorating and designing spaces. I paint, I sculpt. And I lose myself. Then I find me again adrift in the meaning of a creator/artist. I refuse to choose. I simply create.

 

In other words, art has no boundaries.

No, it doesn’t. Not for me anyway. And it never did. Like inspiration, from where art spring from.

 

From where do you draw your inspiration?

Inspiration! Such a big word. From everywhere. From my heritage as a hellene, from the sun, the sea, the environment. From life itself. From a beautiful scenery, from a book I am reading. From a good friend, a smile, from love. A walk in the countryside. Even from problems and sorrow. From night and day, from the full moon. Whatever my eye and my soul witnesses. That is how inspiration comes to me.

 

Apart from style and technique what was the best lesson you learned from college?

To always be myself and not copy the art of others. To turn my fantasies into reality, my soul int creation. Never to give up. To continue creating and not copying. To let myself free, creative and anarchistic.

 

Leaving college, did things turn out the way you had imagined them or was reality far harsher?

It was a lot harsher. But with a continuous struggle I survive. I create and move forward. And anyway life is beautifully difficult. Plus it has more meaning like that. To fight, to create, to be alive…

 

I am wondering if in Greece of the economic crisis, living by your art is feasible.

In Greece of the crisis it’s difficult to carve out a living from anything. Full stop. But like all Greeks I am doing my best to survive. I keep on fighting and through good collaborations I move forward!!!

 

And amidst all these, world recognition has arrived. From where did all this attention for your art spring from?

It happened completely at random and by chance. Primarily through the strength of internet. French, Americans, sites from Holland. They became familiar with my art mainly through Facebook and they wrote about me. Which led to a few collaborations. From 2012 onwards the Dutch started knocking on my door, then French and American art & design websites and magazines. Even from the Emirates. They were all wondering when did I have the time to do all that. I explained that they are works created over a period of the fifteen I have been active in the field. They all seem to focus on my sculpture work for some reason. They usually contact me through mail and Facebook and I send them back my bio and examples of my work.

 

Has all this attention opened new corridors, new in roads?

Yes. I get a lot of friend requests through Facebook by foreigners. I have reached the point where I have 3000 people in my friends’ list and overall both my pages have in excess of 6000 people on them. Also there has been interest shown from overseas galleries and shops apart from the two Greek shops I am currently working with.

 

What do you mean by collaborations?

I mean that an on line French art gallery / boutique sells three of my creations (hagiographics & sculptures) while there is a lot of interest shown by shops in the Emirates. I am always open to new

 

In which phase of your life do I find you;

In the phase were I am preparing for a trip to Europe. Where I will combine business with pleasure. If all goes well I will design and renovate a space in Copenhagen. I would say you are catching me at an exciting time. Which has arisen through a lot of running and a lot of persistence, patience and hard work.

 

You live far away from the center, the metropolis that is Athens. Is that a curse or a blessing for your art?

Chalkida is both near and far from Athens. Only a half an hour drive. I have done a lot of work in Athens. Coffee houses for example. There is always interest due to it close proximity. Then again, I have also worked all over Greece, in town and cities that are not so close. In that respect the distance from Athens is rather small and it is a blessing.

 

I imagine It gives you the opportunity to regroup and recharge your batteries.

Exactly. In half an hour I find myself in the center of Athens while Chalkida is a miniature version of it. You do get your peace and quiet here but also the hustle and bustle.

 

Finally, your craziest dream you have never shared with anyone.

Crazy dream? Ha! I will share a madcap yet logical dream of mine. To see my country resurrect again. From all this madness that surrounds it.