Vassilis Perros is someone who “is aimlessly or purposefully roaming around, collecting experiences and deconstructing reality with the scalpel of art to unearth its magic”.
Vassilis Perros
A psychoanalytic canvas
Text: Zafeiris Konstantinidis
Vassilis Perros is a visual artist. First and foremost he is a visual observer, and on a second level he is a visual intellect. In other words, a man who observes, sets his mind in motion and produces ideas through his art. He was born in Athens in 1981, where he continues to live and work. He studied at the Fine Arts Faculty, but for livelihood reasons he began teaching at the secondary education, in a form of “visual art compromise” as he calls it, before adding that his constant contact with children counterbalances his introversion.
He defines himself more as a visual artist rather than a painter, as he has walked down the artistic road of small-size constructions and sculptures. As a visual artist he is part of the movement of “magical realism”, as many art historians have written with regard to his work. Most of all, perhaps, he is someone who “is aimlessly or purposefully roaming around, collecting experiences and deconstructing reality with the scalpel of art to unearth its magic” as he shares with us, describing his work both precisely and arbitrarily.
He got acquainted with painting at an early age, when he felt attracted by the white surface of the sheet, always willing to provide shelter to his world. “Inspiration exists, but you don’t find it, it finds you,” he says, alluding to the famous similar quote by Pablo Picasso, in an effort to delineate his collusive encounters with inspiration. Artists can draw inspiration from anything, as long as their antennas are alert, allowing them to listen carefully, with all their senses, to the stimuli they receive and transfigure them into art.
As a painter, Perros has addressed archetypal and universal questions such as loneliness, existential angst, time and the decay it triggers, religion, death etc. Crucial issues such as alienation, racism, refugee waves, fascism, authority’s violence, the rise of the far-right, political corruption, bullying, technology and artificial intelligence have also fuelled him as an artist.
Obviously, he has also depicted a series of beautiful aspects of human nature, such as Greek hospitality and solidarity, fighting spirit and modesty, faith in God and in fellow human beings. Athens also holds a place in his canvases, as he enjoys portraying its grim sides, but also its night charms. All the above are fused with his inner world (his childhood experiences, fears and worldviews). Ιt is not by chance, of course, that these topics are of his concern, as he considers that a painter should produce social commentary rather than remaining uninvolved.
Getting involved with issues that stimulate me both emotionally and mentally has healing powers, as a means of personal purification against the problem. The completion of the work generates the soothing of this emotional charging. Picasso was so right in saying that art washes out the dust of everyday life off the soul. At the end of the day, the canvas is my personal therapist, where I can get things off my chest.
The meta era and its impact on human communication is one of the themes he has worked on as an artist. The internet is a tool he repeatedly uses, which enables him to draw images and info or create digital drafts. However, its handy potential goes hand in hand with a series of risks that have a toll on the artist’s creativity, personal research and strain. Even the physical exertion of a visual artist (the stiffness of the shoulder due to the constant extension of the arm, the nicks on the hands caused by the cutter etc) are part of the charm of the creative process.
One of his exhibitions that stirred the waters was no other than “en oiko”, whose creative graphic language made quite an impression. The works included in the exhibition were endowed with an intensely experiential character as they represented the emotions he went through during the confinement due to the pandemic, oozing his own social messages for a period that left its mark on the planet.
For Vassilis Perros, unpleasant conditions accompanied by major emotional challenges, such as the quarantine, cause the inspiration to evaporate, however the artistic sensors remain open and grasp the underlying feelings of the artist. Subsequently, the reconstitution of this turbulent period, after it has become past history, revives these recounts that pave the way for the creation of art.
However, Vassilis Perros also experiences an additional redemptive paradox. “Getting involved with issues that stimulate me both emotionally and mentally has healing powers, as a means of personal purification against the problem. The completion of the work generates the soothing of this emotional charging. Picasso was so right in saying that art washes out the dust of everyday life off the soul. At the end of the day, the canvas is my personal therapist, where I can get things off my chest,” he mentions. The human psyche comes to the foreground through his ongoing work that will be showcased in his next individual exhibition featuring the atelier as a psychotherapist cabinet and a confessional.
According to Vassilis Perros, an artist’s homeland and place of residence has an effect on their identity. It goes without saying that the immense outreach of social media nowadays has reduced the geographical impact of the past, as everything is mashed up in the blender of the meta era globalization. As he adds, the features of a current work of art are more defined by the artist’s personal character than by their country of origin.
I felt fascinated by the idea of asking him what he would think of his work, if he could leave his body and watch it as an external observer. His reply proved to be far more interesting than my question. “Enough is enough with this figurative obsession, that would be my first thought. Or maybe I would be socially moved and I would enjoy what I saw before me. Sometimes, though, I would certainly wonder out loud “what on earth has he done here, is he out of his mind?” for instance, when I portray 200 naked figures in the same work, each and every one painted in full detail.” As he confesses, he takes delight in standing right next to the audience of his works, pretending to be just another spectator, so as to listen to all the unfiltered comments, many of which would never be told out in the open for courtesy reasons. He is always intrigued by negative criticism, as it pumps him up to move forward and get better.
Finally, he stresses that the field of art is twofold. On one hand, the competition between artists, the phony friendships and the arrogant behaviors. On the other hand, the true and socially-oriented artists, teaming up with fellow artists, forming groups, hosting friendly gatherings from one atelier to another. In other words, no different than what applies to any other profession, both collectively and individually. Such is also the case of Vassilis Perros, who emits his personal touch through his works. A brilliant, creative and psychoanalytic touch, in total harmony with his personality.
