BIOGRAPHY

Born in the northern Greek town of Katerini, Kostas Charalabidis studied visual arts in Greece and France at Ecole des Beaux Arts under N. Wancker where he acquired solid knowledge on surface manipulation and mainly the use of materials.

The adverse conditions of his early years in Paris were succeeded by felicitous encounters with Yannis Tsarouhis – a leading Greek painter and his tutor – but also with Stratis Eleftheriadis Teriade the art-critic and publisher who inspired the major twentieth-century painters. Yannis Tsarouhis called him a “master in optical deception” and Teriade called him “a great hope for the future of Greek painting”.

Himself, he confesses that both of the men taught him to always follow, with exactitude and continuity, his personal artistic path and defend with all his might the gnarled journey of his own handwriting.

This is why the artist, after numerous quests and reflections, focuses his interest on the art of optical deception (Trompe-l’oeil), he does not yield to convenience or trends and succeeds with much virtuosity to impress on his canvas his individual truth with sensitivity and tenderness, but also with a critical disposition.

Faithful to and fixed on the artistic values that he serves, Kostas Charalabidis is viewed today as one of the most significant representatives of optical deception in Europe, admitted at major international exhibitions, such as at Espace Branly, Monte Carlo, Grand Palais etc.

The artist, a permanent resident of Paris, with his exhibition offers art enthusiasts the opportunity to get acquainted with the journey of a worthy artist who keeps in pace with his European colleagues while, silently and methodically, shaping his own artistic outlook.

With his artistic transformations on the thick, almost solid, texture of paint, Kostas Charalabidis depicts the agonies of his time and, as a true artist, he paints the things that he experiences and those that he loves.