World outlook and artistic act
of Apostolos Kilessopoulos (page 4)
by Yiannis Papaioannou
Kilessopoulos's murals, too, tempt me to draw meaningful comparisons and associations. The large outdoor mural on the lecture theatre of the Polytechnic School at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki represents an achievement primarily because it achieves complete control over a given set of facts, such as the concave surfaces and all the other peculiar features of the building.
kilessopoulos, κιλεσσόπουλος, ζωγραφική, painting, multiverse, nebula, cosmic maps, νεφελώματα, κοσμικά τοπίαkilessopoulos, κιλεσσόπουλος, ζωγραφική, painting, multiverse, nebula, cosmic maps, νεφελώματα, κοσμικά τοπίαkilessopoulos, κιλεσσόπουλος, ζωγραφική, painting, multiverse, nebula, cosmic maps, νεφελώματα, κοσμικά τοπία Stravinsky used to say: "I wish somebody would come and ask me to write a really strange work, for a flute and ten trombones, for example. Any other composer would tell them to get lost because things like that are just not done. I, however, would regard it as a challenge and would find a way of composing it."  Similarly, in the case of the lecture theatre, a challenge lies in the fact that the surfaces have their own peculiar shapes and on these shapes Kilessopoulos consciously develops what he wants to portray, something which possesses all the qualities of grammography, colour, the relationships and contrasts that exist between sculpture and painting, and the work's response to the challenge of  natural light. I find it remarkable that the internal mural, in the Administration Block of the Aristotle University, is dedicated to the spirit of Debussy, since it pays tribute in an academic setting to a composer who fought against academicism. It also shows that Kilessopoulos does not treat the composer as an impressionist but as a composer mainly of mental images - not of an individual soul but the anima mundi - which I totally agree with.
I think that the chief characteristic of "The Plutonic Series" is its depth, where the lights spring through the terrible darkness in an incredible way. If I had to look for a Greek artist with a similar type of outlook in his paintings, I would choose only Spyropoulos. Even so, the constant contrast between light and darkness in these works, in its various manifestations, represents a persistent use of metaphysical texture that is reminiscent of Rembrandt. 
In the "Nebulas", his next series, I find the red colour of the fire prodigious -  and his reds are not few in number but many. I would like to point out, by no means in jest, that the human eye is capable of distinguishing 300,000 different shades of red. Those pictures of his that are based on the colour mauve, which particularly occupies his attention after the mid-80s, hypnotically draw the viewer's gaze into the even richer tonal gradations of this difficult colour.
The dimly lit setting of "The Mill-wheel" reminds me of Vermeer. His aquarelles often produce a similar impression on me: the contiguity of the surfaces, the quality of the outline, which resembles a nebula, the ingenious distribution of light. A strange geographical map unfolds before us, one of both cosmic and mental images.
Finally, his conversation with Bach in the series "Fractals with the initials B.A.C.H." opens up dimensions in which colour and music blend and fuse together. 
The spirituality and lucidity of these works is unique. The complex structure of the composition and its elaboration remain invisible in the background, with the result that our gaze meets only the fruits of the process, on the surface.
I am very easily moved when it comes to abstract art, which is the culmination - in  Europe - of an age-old Tradition which was born and nourished in the East and attained a very high level of achievement. I believe that it is not a transitory phenomenon but something important which was achieved by a great deal of effort. And if producing abstract art today is regarded as anachronistic, this is due to the fact that the monstrous concept of post-modernism has crept in. And I call it monstrous because I have not seen a single post-modernistic work that could be regarded as a work of art, either in literature, music or painting. Of course, I am not biased against anything to do with the various latest currents. If I was asked what I thought of body-art, I'd look at New Guinea to realize what a great art form they've achieved in painting the human body and I'd reply that when body-art functions like that then I find it totally convincing.
I must stress that the primary aim of the artist is not to produce a confession or to present us with his so-called "concerns". The artist is capable of conceiving much more general notions, be these abstract principles or principles connected with Nature, Philosophy or Metaphysics.
As regards Metaphysics, I ought to clarify a few things. First of all, Logic itself is a very fine thing. Metaphysics is another world which transcends Logic, which does not accept it, but this does not mean anything. Rationalism might be the fashion of the age but this does not mean that rationalism can destroy the metaphysical roots that a certain artist has, nor, moreover, can it stifle them, for they often reveal themselves powerfully to those who are receptive to them. Such people understand that they are speaking the same language as the metaphysical   world of the work they are surveying.
Nevertheless, each time one approaches a different creator, one needs to recognize his own particular metaphysical language, just as I do when, each time I listen to Bach I put on one guise and whenever I approach the last works of Beethoven I put on another.
A world that is based only on logic and necessity is a very poor world.
In drawing the present study to a close, I would like to point out that a conception of the basic nucleus and the way in which this multiplies in order to form a larger surface constitutes one of the main virtues that an artist ought to acquire. I must stress that, in my opinion, Apostolos Kilessopoulos does this superlatively in his work. A distinctive characteristic of his art is similarity of scale, which is the main property of fractals in mathematics. His grammographic sense and skill, expressed either on a surface or in space, relieves him of the monstrous handicap of a Eurocentric outlook and links him to the great tradition of Oriental Art. As for the metaphysical dimension of his work, I would say that it is precisely this which elevates it. Metaphysical is a term I use for anything that transcends a rationalistic interpretation of the universe.
What my eyes and mind encounter in his work is a huge adventure, because my eyes do one thing and my brain - which interprets what my eyes have enjoyed - another. I can see paths opening up into other worlds - regardless of the physical proportions - which might resemble Galaxies, cells, foliage, or something else. These are comparisons on the level of Physics, which can easily be made. But the whole structure and design of his work goes much further than that and gives me precisely the satisfaction of feeling that I am entering a higher sphere, just as I feel I am entering a higher sphere when I walk into the monastery church at Daphni.
 
 
Yiannis Papaioannou
Musicologist, Architect, Town Planner
Athens, June-July 1998
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