Peter Gerakaris


Peter Gerakaris (b. 1981, New Hampshire) earned his BFA from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and his MFA from The City University of New York's Hunter College (New York, NY), where he also received the Tony Smith Prize. Distinctions range from the inclusion of the U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program, the Edwin Austin Abbey Fellowship at the National Academy of Fine Arts, the Clowes Foundation Full-Fellowship Award at the Vermont Studio Center, and the Sun Room Honorarium at Wave Hill, to residencies at the Red Gate Gallery (Beijing, China), and the Bronx Museum of the Arts. In addition to solo shows at Wave Hill (New York, NY) and Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts (New York, NY), Gerakaris has exhibited at Shizaru Gallery (London, UK); Chinese Contemporary Gallery (Beijing, China); the Doors Feature Exhibition (Seoul, Korea); Rocketart (Newcastle, Australia); Heather James Fine Art (Palm Desert, CA); Wave Hill (New York, NY); the Bronx Museum of the Arts (New York, NY); Loretta Howard Gallery (New York, NY); Daniel Weinberg Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); and the National Academy of Fine Arts (New York, NY). Gerakaris' paintings, accordion books, and works on paper are featured in many prominent public and private collections in the United States and abroad, including The U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program Permanent Collection (Libreville, Gabon); Citibank (New York, NY); the Shirley L. & Herbert J. Semler Foundation (Portland, OR); the John H. Friedman Collection (Stamford, CT); the Stephen P. Hanson Collection (New York, NY); the Patrick McMullan Collection (New York, NY); Jinho Cho Collection (Seoul, Korea); and the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection (New York, NY). He is also an avid guitarist, composer and producer who focuses on experimental electronic jazz projects. Peter has performed at John Zorn's The Stone, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and CBGBs, plus founded Coo Gua.



http://www.petergerakaris.com

http://www.accordionbook.com

http://petergerakaris.tumblr.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-gerakaris/

https://vimeo.com/petergerakaris

Garden of Cosmic Delights

2013

video - 3:36 minutes


Peter D. Gerakaris' short film, "Garden of Cosmic Delights" takes viewers on a kaleidoscopic journey through the artist’s newest series of neon-charged, origami-fold accordion books. As intimate objects that have been fervidly constructed, painted, and drawn by hand – objects which relish the analog mode – these books also explore the complex terrain of Nature-Culture dynamics. As his first foray into film, Gerakaris seeks to expand upon the non-linear “popup” book format by utilizing the four-dimensional "space-time continuum" of digital video, while also bringing his visual vocabulary to life. The organic abstractions, geometric minutia, and symbolic imagery – which feature vibrant pollinators, bees, human extremities, seductive yet poisonous flowers, deep sea divers, galaxies, hexagons, and honeycombs – blossom into a metaphysical world that has been dubbed “Post-Pop Botanic.” Within these neo-Boschian stage sets, woman and man emerge in figurine form, not only proposing a massive architectural scale for the book environments themselves, but also evoking a contemporary Eden-esque metanarrative. In dialogue with many of these "visual rhythms and loops,” Gerakaris has also composed, performed, and recorded an original musical "loop" as soundtrack for this fantastic voyage.

"Floating World"

2013

video - 3:12 minutes


This short film by Peter D. Gerakaris takes viewers on a microcosmic odyssey through his organically detailed "Floating World Accordion Book.” Based upon a hand-made, hand-drawn, & hand-painted bi-fold book, Gerakaris seeks to explore new perspectives on his analog cosmology by melding it with the digital, four-dimensional "space-time continuum" of video. The organic abstractions and minutia of the bi-fold accordion books literally and metaphorically unfold in a non-linear format over time, originally conjured from travel, dreams, unconscious drawing, & shadow forms of the botanical world. These elements coalesce into a contemporary, yet personalized riff on "Ukiyo-e” – a floating world where the nocturnal & diurnal blur. In dialogue with many of the "visual loops" from his artwork, Gerakaris also composed and recorded an original musical "loop" as soundtrack for this fantastic voyage.

2013 - Crisis & Paganism2013.html2013.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0

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