Making environmental awareness visible through art
Sustainability has become a pressing concern for collectors, dealers, artists and cultural institutions. Climate change cannot be denied and is an issue that affects us all. From his personal interest in observing nature and economic developments, the painter Pantelis Tsatsis recognized very early on the impact of humans on the environment and identified climate change, its causes and consequences, as a major problem that requires solutions. Understanding the ecological dimension of art certainly requires a different perspective on art and nature than our usual one. Tsatsis therefore picks us up where our aesthetic understanding is still dominated by a romantic concept of nature, of the untouched landscape, of overwhelming or idyllic nature. It is not easy for us to move from this 'naivety' to the 'permanent reflection' of an art that reveals its own foundations and thus its relativity. For aesthetically, we live in a state of perception shaped by tradition. We behave in a similar way when we still live emotionally in a geocentric world and perceive Einstein's universe as an absurdity.
The ecological issue as a meta-theme of art
Tsatsis found confirmation that ecological themes must be part of art very early on. Joseph Beuys was undoubtedly the most prominent proponent of the connection between art and ecology. Beuys also linked his art with a call to our senses and our actions. This places the contemplation of art in the context of active action and perception. He himself said: "There is a visible and an invisible world. The invisible world includes the imperceptible interrelationships of forces, forms and energy processes... These invisible forms are only invisible as long as I have no eye, no organ capable of visual perception. So for those who create an organ of perception, these forms are perceptible."
Tsatsis had exhibited his paintings and watercoulors in various galleries in Greece, in the Artforum Artspace, in the Osten Museum, and actually in Athens at Art Athina and in the Christina Lappas Gallery. He is one of the few artists who deal intensively with the ecological issue. His works are abstract, but forceful. He conveys the danger of still closing oneself off to urgent solutions, not like politicians, but directly to the heart of his followers with the emotional appeal, of art.
This artistic commitment has already attracted lasting attention - Pantelis Tsatsis was nominated by the Osten World Gallery, Skopje, as Artist of the Year 2024.
With co-support of the Winter Foundation Hamburg, a monograph was published simultaneously in English and Greek by ArtForum Editions in 2022.
ΤΣΑΤΣΗΣ / TSATSIS, The world we live with. Paintings and watercolors by Pantelis Tsatsis, contribution to art and ecology. Editors: P. Merten and L.A. Safiriou. 2022.