Peter Nikoltsos
Spring, 2024
The works can be viewed as indications of a progression towards minimalist art frankness that differs from the subjectivity involved with figurative realism. His work resembles avant-garde platforms like minimalism that evolved from the Abstract Expressionist movement through into the 1960s. Nikoltsos’ paintings both suggest and deny significance and literal meaning. His spontaneous and intense style focuses not so much on figures or imagery but on the expression of bold brushstrokes and the use of canvas.
In his new series of paintings, Nikoltsos delves into his unconscious. With ‘Spartacae’ we see him following a process of automatism in the tradition of abstract expressionists of the 1950s. Here he experiments with complex shades and tones of color, using black slashes across the color format and developing the cross of Spartacus to symbolize the rebellion against the slavery of modern-day society. The vertical and horizontal strokes and streaks of color also reference ideological demarcation and metaphysical: a place where East meets West, or where and South coincide within the geography of earthly existence. For Peter there is a sense of moral imperative embedded in the works. The question of slavery vs. dominance, rebellion rather than submission is relevant and continues to be so in societies where the binary of oppressor and oppressed still exists.
As long as humans inherit this earth there will be reasons for sticking together as one. Transcending divisions is a duty more urgent now than ever.
Nikoltsos was born in Thessaloniki in 1979. His studies at the gymnasium-Lykeio won him awards for a peace poster and graphic design. He attended his junior year in California where he excelled in art and photography classes and has since studied and researched cinematography, drawing and comic art workshops in Thessaloniki and Athens. Nikoltsos has participated in Art -Thessaloniki and has shown in 12 solo photography shows. His work is published in two literature books as well as newspapers and periodicals in Greece and Cyprus.
