Photo Courtesy of Harkawik.
Written by: Oliver Heffron
Photo Courtesy of Harkawik.
The past two years have been a maze. Stalks of inclination grew to the towering heights of convictions and muddled every path. Yet, as many of us hurry towards the exit, ready to forget this recent past like a bad dream, Calliope Pavlides instead turned around and dove back in, confronting the tumultuous time and putting it all on the table with her arsenal of invigorating colored pencils. In her new show, “Generator” at Harkawik NYC, Pavlides injects a series of Southern California-inspired still-lifes and landscapes with dynamic surrealism, vitalizing the objects and scenes to create moments of delightful discovery and unsettling contemplation.
Pavlides illustrates artistic alchemy with scientific imagery in There Simply Aren’t Enough Colors on This Planet (2021), as exuberant light colors flutter from the surface where the golden ray of vision meets the natural wonder of the butterfly. Pyro (2021) turns the table to a sea of palm trees and cigarettes as a match-lit face emerges from the deep blue-green shadows. Traffic God (2021) subverts looping freeways of the methodical human organization into the momentary grip of a giant. Pavlides utilizes this pushed-back perspective to contemplate larger systems of classification and organization within the chaotic framework of an individualized existence.
Photo Courtesy of Harkawik.
Shock to the System (2021) internalizes the imagery of the first hydrogen bomb within an inverted shadow bordered by tangible fires and spheres of reflection. The shadow ability to glean a second, darker image from the turquoise waters like a natural x-ray machine reflects familiar engines of exploration seen in the boxed aquatic electricity of Higher Powers (2021) and the framed skeletal mantra of Feel Your Feelings (2021). Pavlides shocks the externalized landscape past the window of Current State (2021) with stunning ultraviolet purples and blues as a flower sits unlit in the foreground.
There Simply Aren’t Enough Colors on This Planet (2021).
Higher Powers (2021).
Pyro (2021) .
In Cabinet of Curiosities (2021), Pavlides places the objects from the series in one cabinet, creating new meaning as the parts form one entity galvanized by the voltaic lemons of Citrus Circuit (2021) and orchestrated by the looming shadow of the unknowable creator. Throughout “Generator,” Pavlides carefully constructs these balances between orderly systems of classification and irrational explosions of natural chaos and desire.
Cabinet of Curiosities (2021). All Photos Courtesy of Calliope Pavlides.
Born and raised in Athens, Greece, Calliope Pavlides lives and works in Los Angeles. She graduated with her BFA from RISD in 2020. “Generator” is up at Harkawik NYC (30 Orchard St New York, NY, 10002) until February 20, 2022.
Traffic God (2021).
Shock to the System (2021).
Feel Your Feelings (2021).
Current State (2021).
Citrus Circuit (2021).