Yiorgos Kordakis
06 Sep - 04 Oct 2008
YIORGOS KORDAKIS
"Global Summer"
The Karsten Greve Gallery returns from holidays with an exhibition of photographs that takes us back to the seaside. Global Summer, the first showing in France of the young Greek photographer Yiorgos Kordakis, is a grouping of about thirty dream-like photos of beaches in different countries.
Yiorgos Kordakis likes to show the world from the sky, through clouds. Global Summer, conceived as a series, seeks to underline how much people resemble one another and how their needs are the same. At the same time, these very diverse images, taken in countries as disparate as the United States, India or the countries of Europe, reveal the divergences in behaviour that are tied to place and the milieu in which people evolve. This series comprises a study in a sense of universal behaviour, of our attitude towards and our link to the beach. With this series, Yiorgos Kordakis wants to go beyond the limits of his country of origin – a land of seaside par excellence – and show our universal desire to head towards the water – the sea, lakes, rivers and swimming pools. More than a simple moment of relaxation or amusement, the artist sees our proximity to water as revealing of our inner nature. Perhaps we feel closer to our inner nature when we are near water, wearing as little as possible, as we were the day we were born. The Global Summer series was thus born of the photographer’s desire to observe how people from different parts of the world live their relationship to water.
Kordakis takes Polaroid photos that are then scanned, enlarged and printed on an ink-jet printer. He has chosen the Polaroid for its surrealistic and vivid aspect, its bizarre colours and the parts that come out blurred. His photos have a real graphic dimension with their combinations of blurred areas and touches of vibrant colour. Some of them really give the impression of having come from a dream world.
Yiorgos Kordakis was born in Athens, Greece in 1973. He studied automobile design in Turin and media management in London. He then went back to Greece to serve in the Greek air force. He has been working as a professional freelance photographer since 1997. He has published three works: Moments in Greece, a series of black and white photographs, Greek White, a colour publication on interior architecture and contemporary design and The New Face of Athens, a book about Athens. His photographs have been published in international magazines like Condé Nast Traveller UK, Vogue UK, AD (Russia), Elle (Italy, China), ID USA and Côté Sud France.
"Global Summer"
The Karsten Greve Gallery returns from holidays with an exhibition of photographs that takes us back to the seaside. Global Summer, the first showing in France of the young Greek photographer Yiorgos Kordakis, is a grouping of about thirty dream-like photos of beaches in different countries.
Yiorgos Kordakis likes to show the world from the sky, through clouds. Global Summer, conceived as a series, seeks to underline how much people resemble one another and how their needs are the same. At the same time, these very diverse images, taken in countries as disparate as the United States, India or the countries of Europe, reveal the divergences in behaviour that are tied to place and the milieu in which people evolve. This series comprises a study in a sense of universal behaviour, of our attitude towards and our link to the beach. With this series, Yiorgos Kordakis wants to go beyond the limits of his country of origin – a land of seaside par excellence – and show our universal desire to head towards the water – the sea, lakes, rivers and swimming pools. More than a simple moment of relaxation or amusement, the artist sees our proximity to water as revealing of our inner nature. Perhaps we feel closer to our inner nature when we are near water, wearing as little as possible, as we were the day we were born. The Global Summer series was thus born of the photographer’s desire to observe how people from different parts of the world live their relationship to water.
Kordakis takes Polaroid photos that are then scanned, enlarged and printed on an ink-jet printer. He has chosen the Polaroid for its surrealistic and vivid aspect, its bizarre colours and the parts that come out blurred. His photos have a real graphic dimension with their combinations of blurred areas and touches of vibrant colour. Some of them really give the impression of having come from a dream world.
Yiorgos Kordakis was born in Athens, Greece in 1973. He studied automobile design in Turin and media management in London. He then went back to Greece to serve in the Greek air force. He has been working as a professional freelance photographer since 1997. He has published three works: Moments in Greece, a series of black and white photographs, Greek White, a colour publication on interior architecture and contemporary design and The New Face of Athens, a book about Athens. His photographs have been published in international magazines like Condé Nast Traveller UK, Vogue UK, AD (Russia), Elle (Italy, China), ID USA and Côté Sud France.