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C o n t e m p o r a r y A r t R e v i e w

I was born in Athens and grew up in Aspropyrgos a city close to Elefsis. My love for painting along with a strong desire to express myself as I wish drive me to conclude in 1993 my studies in art restoration. I have worked at the Ministry of Culture for many years on icons and frescoes of the 13th- 18th century along with the organizing of Ecclesiastical Museum’ s in the Cyclades island’ s region. I have worked abroad in a conservation studio in Nantes, France, and I have participated in conferences on image. My studies in painting have to do with the icono painting and freehand drawing. My theme’ s are anthropocentric, based on humans both as a unit and as an entity. From the moment of their concieve, humans have the right to live equally in the universe with their other fellows. My concerns revolve around the dipole shape of " appearances " and " real "- around the essence of things versus the artificial or plausible. The " appearances " that may result from the imposition of social rules and ' real ' on the equality of people without discrimination. Between " we should " and " we feel ", up to freedom of thought, freedom of choice, on a human basis. It is a dialogue between me and the viewer on an emotional level, recalling unconscious values, identifying equality with others alike.

A key aspect of Lars Vilhelmsen’ s working method is the fact that he works‘ in the moment’, very quickly arranging objects to create a tableaux and then snaps the shutter. The finished pieces therefore become stories rather than sculptures; lingering too long over an arrangement would defeat the purpose altogether. Once the photograph is taken, the objects go back into circulation, being delivered back to where they were found, or sometimes given away, to continue their travels, leave their traces, perhaps make more stories. One can imagine the artist hiding objects here and there, so that they can have a journey, collecting and leaving traces and stories along the way, and it is this wonderfully imaginative perspective that comes across in the work.

Recycled objects play an important role in Lars Vilhelmsens artwork. Found objects, recycled‘ everyday’ objects such as an empty container and even plants or flowers collected from a cemetery or crime scene find their way into his work. These nod towardsmassproductionbut more importantly, they become vehicles to unfold stories of lives lived by the mundane, everyday traces we leave behind.

Then I was a child I was frequently asked who I want to be, and I always answered –“ An artist!” actually I have no other dream – and I fulfilled it. But it is just a beginning. I think that I always was interested in hidden side of things, in the words that were not said, in the other, dark side of human`s personality. The“ real”, material issue of visible world is far less attractive for me, though I`m fascinating by its harmony. So I can say that my art is about Man as a part of the Universe, about his connection and relationships with different aspects of reality. Actually I`d like people to become perceptive to the whole surrounding world as they used to be in the past, then technology was not established as a new religion. But as an artist of visual arts I`m very sensitive to the beauty and power of our world. I`m yearning to express the overall fierce harmony – of colors, movement, bodies. This is my visual language that I combine with abstract elements and structures. Actually I try to find and compose the lost parts and to create some kind of“ divine” pictures like icons, to make people think about spiritual part of themselves. I don`t believe in destructive art. For that reason I often take religious subjects like Passover Haggadah or Jonah the Prophet, but try to discover a hidden problem and to find an alternative meaning.

Food and how it is managed is a recent theme in my work. This shift in my practice from my usual portrait photography occurred as a result of my reaction to what I discovered in my garden after a frost. To my dismay the abundant produce was not just frozen but ruined. Although I was unable to salvage the produce, I felt compelled to photograph the damage. I was overcome with emotion by the loss and neglect. The image of Jean Francois Millet ' s " The Gleaners " came to mind. This reflection and experience led me to research about how food is managed; the excess, the loss, the lack, distribution, environmental concerns and so on. In this ongoing series, I gathered up the remnants from my garden and began to photograph. In my experimentation, the results were unexpected and expected. In my process, I was thinking about the value of food was like precious jewels. As I was working in various processes, including a camera-less approach, the results from my food scraps were surprising in how they transformed into unidentifiable gem-like images of beauty. This was my intent.

Painting is a means. To give me have freedom to express views, think about socially of me. Personally I see there are many problems and paradoxical contradictions in society today. My works are seeking some imagery lampooned on the human condition in the context of Vietnam now. with the impact of global contexts, cultures collide, between the old and new. This is my the process of work and explores my creativity many recent years. I try refine and built up a special image of my own, I wanted to find get a form condensed that it fully reflects Social realism. I think every artist has certain“ obsessions” which are red threads running throughout many of their works- sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously. Such works as " Happy Design " or " Broken Believer” clearly reflect this aspect: You can easily see that there are ominous shapes looming and chaos in the work, everything is intertwined. It flows like sewage peppered with many rods stabbing into the painting.

I have a strong fascination for conceptual and theoretical physics, especially in relation to how shapes and sounds influence human perception. Both sounds and images are expressions by which we understand and connect with one another and our reality. But yes, our Western society favors visual logic, because half the work is already done for us. We don’ t need to imagine because a screen does it for us. But I think the same can apply for sound, especially with music being as abundant and disseminated as it is today. The point I’ m making is that both sound and images bombard the average westernized human, and I do not care to alter or question that per se, but rather to use that phenomena of bombardment for the spiritual benefit of the masses. Solfeggios frequencies have an incredible psychic effect, that many of us can not easily understand, because we are not trained to see, touch or manipulate vibrations. But our subtle energy bodies do that work for us, and we are lucky enough to no longer have to seek that out. It is a gift.