SARANTIS GAGAS | Painting – Small Sculpture

Res, does not verba. (Instead of speech….)

Driven by a deep inner need and emotionally influenced by the Epicurus speech to Herodotus, Sarantis Gagas embarked on a long journey of exploration and experimentation in 2008 – unbreakably linked to the concept of time and matter as a visual effect.

And just as the great ancient Greek philosopher argued that time is directly linked not only to days and nights (…), but also to emotions, real or not, as well as movement and attitude, so Gagas devoted himself for 13 years to an ongoing process of internal search linked to this particular passage from the “About Nature” letter.

Starting with the installation “The Garden of Epicurus’’, he continued with the creation of works – handwritten copies – on various surfaces (plexiglass, canvas, paper, deconstructed wood, ceramic) – with his own personal approach – writing line after line in a ritualistic manner.

On silkscreens he chose to print the date of their burial and exhumation. In fact, another factor has been involved in this process. Human intervention in the process of time intervention on matter. His potential works were buried in Greek soil, but also in other countries, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and when the chosen time arrived they were pulled out in the form of fragments that remained.

At this crucial point, the intervention of the art conservator came. The remnants were cleaned and pasted onto a new surface, canvas, using the lining method, followed by the “telaroma”. Afterwards, the artist took over again by intervening, reconstructing, adding new materials, such as gold leaf, and eventually completing the cycle of creation. Works resulting from a time-consuming process of synthesis, decomposition and reconstruction.

Next concept and next process: two matrices on which this excerpt was printed. Printing is done on handmade Japanese paper or on canvas, in letters, mostly white or black. And the same procedure follows. Burial – exhumation. This time, however, without a set time period.

And time is interweaved with the matter and everything that surrounds them. They act and interact in an endless process of evolution, mutation and reconstruction. The beginning of the journey is the same, but the evolutionary process is different; each piece of art shows its uniqueness; and time continues its work.

Thalia – Maria Alexaki

Museologist – Curator of exhibitions

July 2021