In Dimitris Milionis' most recent paintings the traces of Greek culture are more than obvious; they symbolize references to the Greek cultural traditions, the Byzantine art of icon painting and the miniature paintings of the Middle Ages. At the same time they are simple geometrical compositions with a strong surrealistic blend.
Seascapes, the Aegean Sea, the coasts with the kiosks that remind of pictures from the times of Orthodoxy, as they are imprinted in icons. Scenes of feasts with bottles of wine, flowers in the vases and kites flying in the sky, become one with religious festivals and rituals that take place in sacred places.
The absence of people as part of the landscapes and the presence of surreal details in the compositions strengthens the sense of no-time. Human action is implied on the kites in the sky, the children's balls on the ground. For the artist, the curtains in motion symbolize life, human or divine mysteries that unfold within the buildings.
Everyday life and religious feeling is strongly connected. The classic pediment is symbol of love; it is the heart. The Fish, a timeless Christian symbol is linked to the watermelon, the peer and other fruit, all symbols of fertility in western European painting.
This scene-painted reality -a composition of memories and experiences that reminds the viewers of the works of personal voyages and stories like those told more or less by the patrons of fish taverns and cafes in the west, when a new promising day starts leaving behind the present. Dimitris Milionis image | text | vita | contact 1960 born in Sydney, Australia
Lives and works in Athens, Greece
Education
visual artist
Dimitris C.Milionis is presently living and working in Athens, Greece since 1974. Born in Sydney, Australia 1960.
As a teenager since 1972-74 besides his traditional academic studies, he explores technical drawing, wood and metal workshops at Tempe Languages High School (Sydney, Au.). From 1974-78 at American Community Schools (ACS) Academy School in Athens, he explores B&W photography, 8mm film and video he takes studies in drawing, mechanical drawing and architecture including printmaking in linocuts. In 1979-80 he works on several Greek films and serials in post production. During this period he involves himself with the study of Film & Theatrical Costumes related to and Ancient Greek Theater Stage, Props and Sceneography while he re-explores Painting in all mediums and several other art forms as traditional Greek Orthodox Byzantine Iconography, Etching, Sculpture, Design and Screen Printing. Milionis also includes his personal & career development with one small acting spot in a Cacoyiannis Film "Sweet Country" in 1985.
Solo Exhibitions
1992 Dada art gallery Athens "Profiles" retrospect of work over the years 1980-1992, paintings in all mediums.
1997 Image art gallery - Athens "Apocryphic Fruit" (catalogue) A three month project of 50 small oil paintings art critic Bia Papadopoulou
1998 Monohoro art gallery - Athens "Argonauts" series 1995-98 20 Large Paintings oil on canvas
1999 Olga Georgantea art gallery - Athens "Argonauts" 50 paintings,tempera on paper (catalogue) Ideas-Thoughts-Sketches 1990-1999 art critic: Bia Papadopoulou art critic: Yannis Kolokotronis
2004 [Mar] Monohoro art gallery - Athens "Light of the Aegean" series 2000-2003 40 Small Paintings 30x40cm Acrylic on canvas(catalogue) art critics: Anita Patsouraki art critics: Ergina Xydou art critics: Maria Aggeli.
2004 [Oct] Perplanisi art gallery, Glyfada, Athens "Memories" 53 Small Paintings 24x18cm, 30x24cm, 25x35cm, 30x40cm, 40x50cm & 60x80cm Acrylic on canvas art essay by : Ioannis Paleologos - visual artist
2005 Monohoro art gallery - Athens "Leykolithos" series 2004-5 40 Paintings 40x50cm Acrylic on canvas
2006 - November Mariza Fassianou IRIS art gallery - Athens "Wateracrylics" series 2006 20 Paintings 40x50cm Acrylic on canvas
2007 - November Enigma Gallery “Unknown Epos” 30 Small Paintings, Acrylic on canvas
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Group Exhibitions
has participated in more than 25 group exhibitions with Skoufa Gallery, MONOHORO Gallery & Periplanisi Gallery of which represents his work. ____________________________________________
Art Galleries that represent Dimitris Milionis in Athens
Stavros Mihalarias Art Gallery/ Dealer, Kifisias 260, Kifisia Athens, tel: 210-6234320 www.mihalarias.gr
Nereus Art Editions & Publisher, www.art.com.gr
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Projects
Dimitris C. Milionis has also worked with over 30 Corporations since 1990 and produced over 40 limited multiple commissioned works for Companies based in Athens as art for the Corporations P&R needs.
Some Corporations who have commissioned his work in Athens include:- American Express Bank, Dot & Dash Advertising, Dow Hellas, C.I.Sarantopoulos, Health Care (Scotland) Intl., Interamerican Visa, Warner Music, American Express Intl.TRS., Ethniki Insurance, RCI Hellas, Attica Bank, Forthnet, IBM Hellas, Roche Hellas, C.A.Papahellinas, Space Hellas, Valagro Hellas, Scientific Hellas and the Law firm Mousas & Tsibris to name just a few.
1998 Lavipharm commissioned 60 small paintings 25x35cm. Oil on canvas from the Apocryphic Fruit series.
1999 3E-Tria Epsilon commissioned 100 Tempera drawings on museum boards 35x35cm. From the series Olive-wreath.
2000 Organon Hellas commissioned 20 paintings 40x50cm. Acrylic on canvas from the series Pears.
2001 Coca-Cola HBC Athens commissioned Glass plates with motif
2001 Coca-Cola South Europe Division commissioned 33 Crystal Press-Papier with engraved Olive-wreath design.
2001 Lavipharm commissioned large red glass plates 40cm x 40cm with spiral design.
2002 Tyco Hellas commissioned 50 cold fussion unglazed poreceline Pigeons and 50 Gold Gilted unglazed poreceline masks
2003 Coca-Cola South Europe Division commissioned 40 Crystal Award designs for its region
2004 Ethniki (national) Insurance Co. commissioned 20 paintings 40x50cm, 15 paintings 40x30cm from the series "Hellenic Sea" & 15 paintings 30x40cm . Acrylic on canvas from the series "light of the Aegean"
2005 Valagro Helas commissioned 6 paintings 25x35cm Acrylic on canvas from the series "light of the Aegean"
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Collections
Works may be found in the Philosophical School of Athens University, The Ameican Collage of Greece, American Express Bank, Alpha Bank and in many Corporate and private collections in both Greece, Cyprus and Internationally.
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Bibliography
Dimitris Milionis is among the celebrated emerging artists in Greece. A self-taught artist, Milionis studied the laws of nature and the rules of the gods, and received his inspiration directly from nature, philosophy, and the arts. His work generates questions on the relationship between Art and Philosophy on a cosmological scale.
Milionis is sustaining visibility in a rapidly changing art world. In the 1980s, at a time when conceptional and abstract art reigned supreme, Milionis was inspired by Frank Stella, Gaitis, Akrithakis, Zouni. In the 1990s his minimalist work focused on the human profile; flat hard-edge line paintings and serigraphs. These aspects of his work took him forward in 2000 to discover neo-symbolism on a new level, coupled with a Greek Archaic air and a simplified traditional Byzantine feeling. This resulted into a new modern look of compositional complexity that captured and held the interest of curators, collectors, and critics.
Milionis' success is even more remarkable given that he seldom exhibits in mainstream galleries. His widespread yet low visibility, inspired to him by generations of modern Greek artists, such as De Chirico, Eggonopoulos, Tsarouchis, Fassianos, Samios - whom Milionis has called 'beacons' - prompts him to continue along the dictates of a neo-mythical Aegean culture. Milionis is a great humanist. A quiet man, Milionis uses his art to advocate human compassion, with a critical approach to history and current conditions of inter-cultural understanding, equality, and justice. Milionis feels an urge to address contemporary concerns around humanity's progress, reflecting his desire to explore the nature of humanity and to make sense of the mysteries of life. He likes to challenge the artworld as it progresses in an eternal cycle of light, seeking his own 'Ithaca' under the sun. However, more importantly, he deeply affects the lives of those who see his work and its mystical story-telling. He paints his own spiritual metaphysical world, like the old Greek hagiographer of the early Byzantine world; the streets and small villages; the peaking towers; hotels; churches; and the bars of Eros. At present, his paintings reflect a keen sensitivity to the particularities of contemporary culture. Throughout his life, Milionis feels indebted for their profound influence upon him to his family and friends.
After his move to Greece in the early 1970s, where he lived in a suburban, Athenian neighborhood, his memories of the first smells of museums, ancient sites and monasteries in Greece and Cyprus continued to serve him as an ultimate source of internal inspiration. His art is a homage to the artists and poets of the ancient Greek world. Milionis' paintings and prints tell the story of Creation, evolution of humankind and archetype symbols of his Aegean heritage, as told by the scraps of historical notes, plays, and artefacts of antiquity. The story proceeds from Chaos through the creation of day and night, and the four elements; wind; water; fire; and earth. Milionis' unique personal approach to the subject is brilliant. He choses to represent unique moments of daily life, which are knowable only through the experience of the Aegean landscape. The central protagonist in his narrative is God, who prominently watches over each scene. In part, it is about the powerful ability of stories and storytelling; to unlock the creative powers of the visual imagination. As an artist, he tells stories in a dynamic conflation of physical, emotional, and imaginative experience; capturing the essence of human tragedy. He also chooses scenes from daily life, which are conditioned by Eros. The small yet tall buildings, with unlit, dark rooms inside, and curtains that breaths swing open, playgrounds where children's beach-balls are scattered, and tables which evidence moments of feast, of daily life, during Equinox. His figures are beyond race, ethnicity, or class. Instead, they are innocent victims in a universal tragedy. The tragedy of eternal Love. The houses and villages, depicted in broad swathes of transparent earthen colors, contain references to his mythical dream, a wonderful vision of Hellenic world. The paintings exhibit colorful and sensuous effects, while achieving a heightened sense of style with emphatic brush strokes. Figuration, though not always present, is nonetheless evident and dominates the surface plane providing, verve and poignancy. Milionis' art typifies Hellenic Neo-Symbolic art in the twenty-first century.
