Odysseus Yakoumakis
Odysseus Yakoumakis (born 1956) is a Stuckist artist, painter and illustrator, based in Athens, Greece. He is the founder of the first Greek Stuckist group, The Romantic Anonymous Fellowship, and organiser of the first international Stuckist group show in Greece, Under the Cover of Romantic Anonymity]. He was a scheduled speaker at the first Stuckist international symposium, The Triumph of Stuckism, in England. He practises martial arts; he is currently studying traditional engraving.
Life and art
Michael Odysseus Yakoumakis was born in Athens, Greece. He studied painting up to highly advanced level at the Community of Naples (1974–78) and obtained Laurea in Geological Science, from the University of Naples (1978–84). He gained a post-graduate diploma in Computer Science from the Institute of Informatics of EL.KE.PA. (Hellenic Centre for the Enhancement of Productivity), Athens, (1990–92). He also studied Sumi-e and traditional Chinese painting (1985–90), using “methods of self instruction for Western visual artists” elaborated by Masters Ryūkyū Saito, Wang Jia Nan and Cai Xiaoli. He is currently learning engraving and artistic book-binding. He is a regularly enrolled student in the Department of Graphics Design, of the Faculty of Arts & Design, of the Athens Technological Education Institute (TEI). He apprenticed to Masters of traditional martial arts of medieval & rinascimental Italy (Scherma Storica) and of Okinawa (Sorin Ryu Karate-do, Matayoshi Kobudo). His career has been a combination of engineering geologist, systems engineer and painter–illustrator–graphics designer. From 2003 he has focused on work as a painter and illustrator, while also teaching courses of Sumi-e and traditional Chinese painting. His art has been shown in solo shows in Athens and group exhibitions in Montreal, Nicosia, London and Rome.
His artistic oeuvre aims "to express ideas, ideals and feelings and to convey messages at the personal, social, political, philosophical and mystic levels". He contrasts the Post-modern era with what he describes as "older, perhaps much happier and certainly more interesting times". He has increasingly used anthropocentric subject matter and a more minimalist use of a vocabulary of mythological symbols drawn from "ancient traditions of the Earth" and from his own subconscious," in a satire of "life-style", "technology", "anti-art", "economic power" and "wealth". His nostalgia is obsessive. His style combines elements from the schools of the Italian Renaissance, the Flemish and German “Primitives”, the Japanese Sumi-e and the Chinese Gonbi and Xieyi, the movements of figurative Expressionism and Surrealism, and from certain genres of European comics. He divides his current oeuvre into "Principal", "Expressionistic" and "Japanistic".
Current projects
Yakoumakis is one of the featured artists exhibiting in the "[http://www.student.livjm.ac.uk/lsaiwyli/TheTriumphOfStuckism/index.html The Triumph of Stuckism]", an exhibition of new Stuckist paintings curated by Naive John, as part of the 2006 Liverpool Biennial. He is also billed as one of the speakers at the accompanying International Symposium at Liverpool John Moores University in October 2006.
Yakoumakis is currently curating Under the Cover of Romantic Anonymity, an international Stuckists group show in Greece, billed for early 2007.. Stuckist artists taking part include [http://www.ilaniaabileah.com/ Ilania Abileah], [http://www.artworksbyanthe.com/ ANTHE], Godfrey Blow, [http://jpob.no.sapo.pt/ Jaime Braz],[http://www.ianjburkett.co.uk/ Ian J. Burkett], [http://users.stargate.net/~constant/ Susan Constance], [http://www.blueruingallery.com/archives/2000-2001/0103depackh/selene_01.html Selene de Packh], Elsa Dax, Terry Marks and [http://www.odysseus-art.net/RAF/UCRA_EN.html#Daniel Daniel Pincham-Phipps]. Guest artists participating are [http://homepage.hispeed.ch/A.Fiumi-Loosli/ Annunziata Fiumi-Loosli], [http://www.matildahultgren.se/ Matilda Hultgren], [http://www.song-rays.com/about.html Ray Wilkins] and the student painter Eleutherios Yakoumakis.
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