Tassos Mantzavinos, Hallucination

A contrast between reality and imagination

At the centre of the work lies a reclining man, giving the impression that he is either dreaming or lost in thought. He is looking towards the sky, observing a mythical creature rendered in vivid red and black colours.

The man’s body is depicted with simplicity, yet with a sense of weight, as if he is trapped on the earth. The creature above him symbolises the force of the subconscious or perhaps an inner fear, or a vision.

The contrast between blue and red that dominate the composition creates a strong emotional charge, conveying the man’s inner world and the contrast between reality and fantasy.

A visual approach to the subconscious

In a style influenced by Greek folk artistic tradition, Mantzavinos uses intense colours, lines and symbolic forms to express psychological states and existential searching.

Hallucination captures the fine line between dream and reality, fear and imagination.

It is a deeply personal and poetic image, distinctive of the artist’s style, in which painting becomes a means of exploring the subconscious emotions and thoughts.

His life in a nutshell

Tasos Mantzavinos was born in Athens in 1958. He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1979 to 1985. 

From 1986 to 1996, he taught freestyle drawing at the Vakalo Art & Design College, while he has also worked in book illustration.

He has held solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He took part in the 2nd and 3rd Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (Thessaloniki, 1986; Barcelona, 1987), as well as the Alexandria Biennale (1987).

The development of the artist’s style

Up until 1990, he worked with a more restrained palette, which he gradually set aside in favour of more intense chromatic renditions.

His painting style combines representation with a non-naturalistic approach to drawing. Figures remain recognisable in his works, but they are rendered in an unrealistic manner, simplified and at times distorted.

He often draws inspiration from memories across a broad personal and collective register. He reshapes those memories through imagination to form a private mythical world; a world of dreams, fear and surprises. This approach places his work within the expressionist tradition.

Participation in exhibitions

Hallucination was featured in the exhibitions: 

• The Alpha Bank Collection. Greek Art from 1960 until Today at Momus, Thessaloniki, from 10.12.2018 to 10.03.2019
• The game, “Snakes and Ladders”, Skoufa Gallery, from 09.11.2017 to 04.12.2017

Bibliographical references 

The work is included in the publications:

• Mantzavinos, exhibition catalogue, 2017
• The Alpha Bank Collection. Greek Art from 1960 until Today, exhibition catalogue, 2018
• Cover image for the book Their Language by Orfeas Apergis, Nefeli Publishing, Kathimerini newspaper, 02.06.2019

The piece Hallucination by Tassos Mantzavinos is displayed inside the Alpha Bank building at the HUB26 in Thessaloniki.

You can visit it by appointment. Contact us to book your visit.