Known for his calligraphic drawings, Antonis Donef captures in his works a new, diverse and colorful personal view of Knowledge. His detailed drawings unfold on archival material such as newspaper clippings, pages from books, dictionaries or encyclopedias, while his recent works incorporate also his son's drawings.
The labyrinthine character of the iconography and the calligraphic way of drawing give Donef’s works exceptional dynamism and multi-layered possibility of interpretation. In the form of automatic writing, his works reveal, among other things, elements of personal memories and feelings, individual and collective knowledge. These elements project, consciously or unconsciously, through the intricate paintings on the surface of the printed pages. The artist’s collages and intricate drawings create palimpsests that hide successive levels of stories, a parallel universe of concentrated knowledge and information, the interpretation of which always lies in the personal reading of the viewer.
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In his new series of works presented in his solo exhibition at Kalfayan Galleries, Donef investigates the multifaceted meaning of the concept of ‘Time’. As the artist comments:
“Time is relative. Personally, I can’t identify it in the three-dimensional reality that I perceive. In addition to the spatial dimensions: height, width and length, there is a fourth dimension, time. This dimension cannot be perceived by man. But we can feel it if we give over to our senses and emotions.
The fourth dimension, time, includes the past, the present and the future. This is exactly what I try to infuse into my new works: more time concentrated in one artwork. This new series of works started in reality about three years ago with numerous sketches that I made wherever I went. I did not have a central idea or a specific reasoning, I just draw and painted with whatever material I had available at that moment, wherever I was.
Eventually, I decided to put together all these drawings in one project, regardless of whether they matched or not. Thus, I believe that I introduced the parameter “time” more stronly in my recent works. This, of course, is something that has always preoccupied me, even in my older works, some of which I worked on for up to two years. At the same time, with adding more color in the work, I believe that different emotions are released even more easily and it is makes it easier for someone to perceive the dimension of ‘time’ in my paintings.
In almost every work there are drawings of my son, Christoforos – Maximos. I felt the need to include them in my works, because these designs were usually made in parallel with my own. After all, my son is in a way my sequel. I believe that it is very important to encourage the new generation to create and produce. Even the simplest material or a children's sketch, adds something unique to each work of this new series. It is good for young people to understand that each one of us can create something important, as long as we get passionate and put all our being into what we do. In this regard, I hope my new works can encourage the younger generation to create without fear”.
