Sunday Arts Magazine

31 Aug 2020

Nikos Pantazopoulos talks to David about his NGV Live Studio Visit.

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Nikos Pantazopoulos talks to David about his NGV Live Studio Visit.

At the NGV we’re continuing our Live Studio Visit series on Instagram, which we commenced back in May. For three months now, each week an NGV Curator joins an artist, designer or architect on @NGVMelbourne Instagram to virtually visit their studio, as well as discuss their work in the NGV Collection, and what they are currently working on. You can view a few of the artists chats which have passed here: https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/playlist/live-in-studio-artist-visits/ including interview with Iris Van Herpen, Christopher Boots, Darren Sylvester, Lisa Waup and more.

Melbourne-based artist Nikos Pantazopoulos will be joining the Live Studio Visit series on Wednesday 9 September to chat with NGV Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Simon Maidment about his practice which explores LGBTIQ+ politics through an immigrant CIS GAY LENS. His work remediates art history and popular narratives that are influenced by hegemonic culture. Nikos’ current research is engaged in Ancient Greek legacies and its influences’ on modernism, minimalism, relational, outsider art activities and on Labor and its economic values in our society. Nikos’ materials critique the classical traditions of the arts to repurpose them through a photographic data and technologically driven lens.

Nikos works as a lecturer in Photography at RMIT and is currently working on a commission for UNSW Galleries which continues his ongoing investigations into the architectural and aesthetic histories underpinning Queer culture today, rediscovering and repositioning these lost or hidden languages. The UNSW commission involved paintings bought from a nightclub on Oxford street that has shut down. They are Tom of Finland men (pictured below) posing in the Australian Urban space i.e on the Harbour and in a cafe on Oxford street. Nikos found the artist who now works as a trader on the stock exchange after he went through a difficult period in the 90s in gay Sydney as a successful artist. Nikos and the artist exchanged conversations leading to Nikos deciding to reframe the work for an online presentation in October.

During the Live Studio Visit, Simon will virtually visit Nikos in his studio to hear more about his practice and his current project.