Apostolos Georgiou: Matters of the Unconscious

5 Oct 2024-25 Jan 2025

Overview

Matters of the Unconscious is an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Greek painter Apostolos Georgiou, and his first institutional presentation in the UK. 

Georgiou’s work explores the themes of man’s existence by focusing on the human condition. Figures in the process of falling, clown-like shadows, ghostly dream writers and bathers populate his scenes. Though seemingly figurative, his paintings are arguably abstract in the way they tell stories; these are stories that no one knows. Like many abstract painters, Georgiou refuses to title his paintings, encouraging audiences to create their own interpretations. He rejects assigning meaning as a way to avoid pretension, refusing to impress the audience in the belief that truth needs no definition. 

Georgiou’s paintings strive for clarity and fluidity, emphasising that the scenes he depicts are not moments from everyday life, but reflections of everyday thoughts, fictional humorous episodes. The situations he depicts in his work become rational only with prolonged viewing, inviting us to re-examine our own lives with tenderness and empathy. 

Apostolos Georgiou (b. 1952 in Thessaloniki, Greece) lives and works in Athens and Skopelos.

Artists