‘I Love NY’, Chromaluxe Aluminum Dye Sublimation, 80 X 120 cm (32 X 48 inches), 2017.

The Statue of Liberty is a figure of a liberty goddess overlooking Manhattan, which turned into an American icon and a world symbol of freedom. The Nine Eleven attack on the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan is the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history. Not only the two 110-story towers collapsed during the attack, the American freedom spirit has been severely affected as well, and 'I Love NY' was created as a tribute to the world sought-after peace and freedom.

The artwork composition is an imaginary and impossible combination of Manhattan's skyscrapers viewed from the East River, on which we see their reflections, along with the Statue of Liberty, as seen from the south. The scene is shown at night, and the moon is replaced by the famous red heart from the slogan and logo of I Love New York, which contributed its name to the work, a moon that like Manhattan's buildings, is also reflected on the dark water of the East River. This is the right place for us to remember Milton Glaser the American graphic designer who has designed this I Love New York logo, and passed away a few weeks ago, on June 26, 2020.

I am proud to thank Gudmundur Gudmundsson, aka Erró, a renowned pop art artist of Icelandic origin, with whom I had the pleasure and privilege to get acquainted in Paris, who many years ago gave me the inspiration to use the Statue of Liberty for this work.

I Love NY

‘Buggy Chiron’, Chromaluxe Aluminum Dye Sublimation, 120 X 80 cm (48 X 32 inches), 2018.

This brand new Bugatti Chiron is one of the world's fastest and most expensive cars. Still decorated with the show room lights reflections it suddenly finds itself grazing in a pasture, while it is made for well paved tracks, thus turning to be a rather Buggy Chiron... but the tragedy is not that terrible, once we consider the Buggy Chiron simply as a Truggy Chiron…

Buggy Chiron

‘Sous le Ciel de Paris, Hommage à Georges-Eugène Haussmann’, Chromaluxe Aluminum Dye Sublimation, 150 X 100 cm (60 X 40 inches), 2019.

An avid Francophile, I have always been fascinated by the massive urban renovation program of Paris, carried out between 1853 and 1870 by Georges-Eugène Haussmann, aka Baron Haussmann, under the commission of Emperor Napoléon III. 

The spaceship which we see in the artwork is hovering over Paris, and it may seem as if the aliens admire this beautiful city as most of us human beings do... or, is it one of the best known songs of Edith Piaf, the immortal 'Sous le Ciel de Paris' - Under Paris Sky - that is the reason for the spaceship’s visit?

I spent many of my adult years in Paris, and I believe that both reasons may explain this visit, especially in light of Edith Piaf’s words in her song: “Under the sky of Paris the birds of God come from all over the world, in the sky of Paris hope blooms.” These words were my first inspiration to create this artwork.

The second is credited to Baron Haussmann and his grandiose renovation program. I have chosen to build a huge, yet as friendly as possible spaceship, along the architecture guidelines set forth by Haussmann – planned lines, straight, wide and lined up paths as well as arrayed clusters of structures. Thus, a closer and exploring look at the image would reveal that the spaceship above is similar in its structure to the city underneath, with its straight ‘boulevards’, its lined up ‘Haussmann buildings’, its numerous ‘squares’ and its huge ‘parks’. This look should also affirm the fact that the spaceship is gigantic in size, which extends to the horizon, far beyond the Eiffel Tower and La Défense district.

For creating this artwork I have modified this magnificent Paris aerial photo, taken by Wladyslaw Sojka, which is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

Sous le Ciel de Paris, Hommage à Georges-Eugène Haussmann

‘Fever Pitch, Homage to Jerry Lee Lewis’, Chromaluxe Aluminum Dye Sublimation, 150 X 100 cm (60 X 40 inches), 2019.

The environmental effects of global warming are broad and far-reaching. There are effects on the oceans, ice and weather, as well as on human systems such as food and water, health, security, industry and infrastructures, to name a few. Global warming has led to decades of shrinking and thinning of the Arctic sea ice, making it vulnerable to atmospheric anomalies. The reduction of snow cover and sea ice in the Arctic reduces the albedo of the Earth's surface. More of the sun's energy is now absorbed in these regions, contributing to polar amplification, which has caused Arctic temperatures to increase at more than twice the rate of the rest of the world.

Yet, the global warming damages are still a long way from reaching the center of the public consciousness the world over, public that has yet to understand and realize the various effects of the climate changes on our day to day life.

In order to set this crucial topic as the focal point of the public awareness on Earth, its consequences should be amplified and broadcast time and again. With ‘Fever Pitch, Homage to Jerry Lee Lewis’ I humbly try to contribute to this important effort. A black grand piano which is located in the heart of the white Arctic ice wilderness definitely attracts attention and even more so, when it is set on fire. The outcomes are easily seen: not only the piano collapses and commences sinking underwater, the fire covers the atmosphere and the sky above us with smoke. The implications are clearly inferred: a similar fate awaits all of humanity… unless actions are immediately taken.

Jerry Lee Lewis, an American musician, was one of the rock and roll genre pioneers during the 1950s and the 1960s. He also was one of my childhood heroes. He earned his fame for his vocal power, his virtuosic and wild boogie piano playing as well as for his energetic performances on stage, which at times included setting his piano on fire. This might have been a reason for him to record in 1957 one of his greatest hits - “Great Balls of Fire”. This is definitely one of the two inspirations I had while creating ‘Fever Pitch, Homage to Jerry Lee Lewis’. The other being the global warming crisis whose damages are not yet internalized and therefore the whole issue deserves a further push, which is exactly what I hope to create with this artwork.

Fever Pitch, Homage to Jerry Lee Lewis

‘Nighthawks Diner, Homage to Edward Hopper’, Chromaluxe Aluminum Dye Sublimation, 120 X 80 cm (48 X 32 inches), 2019.

'Nighthawks' is probably one of the best-known works of Edward Hopper, a renowned 20th century American painter and one of my most beloved artists. His works frequently reflected his view of the contemporary loneliness and indifference life, prevailing in both urban and rural America. 'Nighthawks' which was painted in 1942, shows 3 customers sitting at the counter of an all-night diner, and is characterized by the green, yellow and red electric lights. These lights set the diner apart from the dark night outside, enhancing the mood and subtle emotion.

With this artwork - 'Nighthawks Diner, Homage to Edward Hopper' – I first of all wish to pay tribute to Edward Hopper and to his magnificent work. At the same time, I humbly try to somewhat ‘promote’ and ‘develop the public relations’ for this gloomy 'Nighthawks' diner, by creating this glowing neon sign which employs the basic colors of the painting.

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