The new heart of stone creations of Antonis Karakonstandakis were presented in May at the Archeological Museum of Larissa (Geni Mosque) with the title "Scouting". The exposition included three modules (Horizons – Candles – Landscapes) created with the artist's original technique of inlays applied on natural rocks.
Antonis Karakonstandakis uses poetry to create word pictures of his heart of stone mosaic sculptures. For his latest exhibition in Larissa, the capital of central Greece, his verses describe the influence of the art form of mosaics.
Art Form,
that initiates us
to the obvious and to the self-evident,
approaches harmony,
transposing circumspection in parallel,
with Doric austerity
that defines it,
composes and endorses,
the anticipated,
while at the same time,
recalls and releases memories,
that remain vivid
activating the senses,
to a continual and transparent Rearrangement.
Apocalypse.
For Antonis, as for any sculptor, the heart of stone, the rock they work with, has life. Stone has history. From Minoan art to the Parthenon, to the masterly work of the Byzantine period, stone has existed and always will, as long as there is civilization. Because it withstands and bears time within, the memory and experience, and encloses life within its heart of stone.
Because stone does have a heart! It constitutes the "canvas" on which Antonis Karakonstandakis expresses himself. The heart of stone is the heart of his creations.
Antonis says: "There's great anxiety when cutting into a stone. There is the danger of wounding or even destroying it. But the climax is the moment of apocalypse. In every stone you open, you see its heart! It's unique"
On this primeval heart of the stone, Antonis makes his pictorial representation, with colored tessera, "stone into stone, a mosaic in the heart of the stone, on which civilizations were based". However, the base rock is what defines the artist's canvas. For Antonis "the tessera by itself is meaningless. It's a living cell, part of a whole. By taking its appropriate place in the composition, it brings out the whole and together with the stone it brings to life what was hiding within".
"The artist must try to expand his art. Through this activity, his ‘apprenticeship’ with the material and study of his previous creations, the artist will arrive at his own new concept. Whether this concept is worthwhile, time will tell".
“Open Horizon
A provocatively Unknown,
Open Horizon,
calls us to transcend,
the melancholic smugness of the settlement,
the grind of olive trees,
the sureness a lighthouse emanates,
as a place safe to sail,
the surface journeys and
to follow the flight of birds,
flying free,
opposite a new moon,
and an escape to areas and places,
where our inmost being was trapped,
unfulfilled desires.”
Follow us