
Jannis Varelas
Untitled, 2020
Oil, acrylic, pastel and gesso on canvas
150 x 150 cm/59.06 x 59.06 inches
Jannis Varelas
Conversation Piece, 2020
Oil, acrylic, pastel and gesso on canvas
150 x 150 cm/59.06 x 59.06 inches
Jannis Varelas
Untitled, 2020
Oil, acrylic, pastel and gesso on canvas
200 x 150 cm/78.74 x 59.06 inches
Jannis Varelas
Cotton Garden, 2020
Oil, oil stick, gesso on canvas
250 x 200 cm / 98.43 x 78.74 inches
JVAR_033
Jannis Varelas
Untitled, 2019
Oil, oil stick, acrylic ink, pastel, gesso on canvas
250 x 250 cm / 98.43 x 98.43 inches
JVAR_032
Jannis Varelas
Untitled (Another View), 2019
Oil, oil stick, permanent marker, acrylic, pastel, gesso on canvas
210 x 240 cm / 82.68 x 94.49 inches
JVAR_027
Jannis Varelas
The Room, 2019
Oil, oil stick, permanent marker, acrylic, pastel, spray paint, gesso on canvas
210 x 240 cm / 82.68 x 94.49 inches
JVAR_026
Jannis Varelas
Fire Walk, 2018
Oil, oil stick, pastel, collage, acrylic, permanent marker, gesso on canvas
210.82 x 251.46 x 5 cm / 83 x 99 x 1.97 inches
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Jannis Varelas
Port View, 2018
Oil, oil stick, pastel, collage, acrylic, permanent marker, gesso on canvas
241.30 x 210.82 x 5 cm / 95 x 83 x 1.97 inches
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Jannis Varelas
The House, 2018
Oil, oil stick, pastel, acrylic, gesso on canvas
241.30 x 210.82 x 5 cm / 95 x 83 x 1.97 inches
JVAR_023
Jannis Varelas
Yellow Landscape, 2017
Oil, oil stick, gesso on canvas.
210 x 240 x 5 cm / 82.68 x 94.49 x 1.97 inches
JVAR_022
Jannis Varelas
Volcano, 2017
Permanent marker, oil stick, charcoal on canvas
240 x 210 x 5 cm / 94.49 x 82.68 x 1.97 inches
JVAR_024
Jannis Varelas
Mister Ilo, 2017
Permanent marker, oil stick, charcoal on canvas
240 x 210 x 5 cm / 94.49 x 82.68 x 1.97 inches
JVAR_025
Jannis Varelas exhibition 2018
Jannis Varelas exhibition 2017
Photo: Angel Gil
Born in Athens, Greece 1977 | Lives and works in Athens, Vienna and Los Angeles
The Greek artist Jannis Varelas (b. 1977) unveils the surprising side of banal elements in everyday life. Playfully fusing abstraction and realistic representation, his paintings explore lived spaces through a myriad of collage-like details. He constructs the reality from fragments: like in archeological excavations, lived moments are presented to us in a seemingly arbitrary composition of random traces. We are shown a lighter lying on a packet of cigarettes, a small stained cloth resembling the head of a mythical creature, food leftovers shaped like a happy face: when seen from a specific perspective, these insignificant remnants suggest a different reality that can open up to a new dimension, full of possibilities.
The signs and symbols in Varelas’ work resemble automatic painting or children’s drawings, with added dynamism deriving from the artist’s highly physical, expressive technique. His work reflects on social issues and the plight of humanity in world history, but the thematic content is expressed in a web of subtle allusions that spontaneously follow the artist’s irrational trains of thought. Varelas’ work has been exhibited widely around the world at venues such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, London’s Saatchi Gallery, and the Kunsthalle Wien. The artist divides his time between Los Angeles, Vienna, and Athens.
Galerie Forsblom has been representing Jannis Varelas since 2018.