Biography

ARISTOTLE  GEORGIADES

Some Time

New Work / Repurposed Sculpture

Exhibition Dates:  April 12 – May 11, 2013

Please Note Artist’s Reception Date:  Friday, April 19, 5:30 – 8:00 P.M.

 

In this his first solo exhibition at Carl Hammer Gallery, Aristotle Georgiades’ new body of work uses primarily repurposed materials to touch on themes of altered ambition and obsolescence. Most of the new pieces have an intention or ambition that has been re-directed for one reason or another, making the emotional content of this change in direction the subject of his new work. The wood trim, banisters and railings, salvaged by the artist for this body of work, all come from a historical period when the “constructed environment” was not as efficiently mass-produced as it is today, and workmanship was important. The vintage elements in the materials used most definitely convey a nostalgic quality, triggering something in us to reference the past. Yet, the forms and installations go beyond a sentimental moment about handwork and a “simpler time”. They are formally composed and employ a sculptural vocabulary which causes us to re-consider our relationship to the material world of today, and how the things that we have constructed reflect our values and concerns. 

Many of Georgiades’ source objects and materials are no longer useful in the way they were intended, and through sculptural manipulation, he finds a way to give them a new purpose, often that of expressing the condition that many humans find themselves in as well.  If work is what makes people feel useful, what happens when the rapidly changing world about us renders people obsolete or worn out?  How does one find meaning when one’s strengths are no longer needed?  Through the application of formal and design language to the materials chosen by the artist, we are offered a sculptural point of view on this human condition.

Bio

Aristotle Georgiades received a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is currently a professor of Art/ Sculpture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His work ranges from issues of male identity, labor economics, and more recently, the changing American landscape in a post-industrial economy.  He works in a wide range of materials including recycled architectural salvage. 

Mr. Georgiades has exhibited his sculptural works nationally and internationally for over twenty years in both curated group and solo exhibitions. He has had many reviews of his work in various publications including Art In America, Sculpture Magazine and The Chicago Tribune. He is also part of the collaborative public art team Actual Size Artworks which has been producing large scale permanent and temporary public works for over fifteen years.