Henry Krokatsis
Henry Krokatsis works with a wide range of materials–smoke, found wood, broken glass, antique mirrors–giving each of his works a unique, uncanny expression. The elaborate nature of the labour involved hints at an obsessive behaviour that is quietly unsettling; this in contrast to the seductive craftsmanship and unexpected warmth of the materials in their new context. His marriage of make-do opportunism and highly developed craft skill is, as Krokatsis says, an act of faith in the bankrupt, "I want to make objects that oscillate between the destitute and the divine.” For all the interplay of symbolic significance and contingency, for all the layers of meaning that are hinted at, his work is clearly not a conduit for an overlaid narrative; Krokatis asserts, “this is not art to make sense of the world–it is an act of faith, it’s art as a spell.”
Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at venues such as Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Gazelli Art House in London, Galeria Leme in Sao Paulo, and the New Art Gallery Walsall in West Midlands. He has participated in group exhibitions at Hayward Gallery in London, South London Gallery, Chapter in Cardiff, The Hole in New York, …
Henry Krokatsis works with a wide range of materials–smoke, found wood, broken glass, antique mirrors–giving each of his works a unique, uncanny expression. The elaborate nature of the labour involved hints at an obsessive behaviour that is quietly unsettling; this in contrast to the seductive craftsmanship and unexpected warmth of the materials in their new context. His marriage of make-do opportunism and highly developed craft skill is, as Krokatsis says, an act of faith in the bankrupt, "I want to make objects that oscillate between the destitute and the divine.” For all the interplay of symbolic significance and contingency, for all the layers of meaning that are hinted at, his work is clearly not a conduit for an overlaid narrative; Krokatis asserts, “this is not art to make sense of the world–it is an act of faith, it’s art as a spell.”
Solo exhibitions of his work have been presented at venues such as Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Gazelli Art House in London, Galeria Leme in Sao Paulo, and the New Art Gallery Walsall in West Midlands. He has participated in group exhibitions at Hayward Gallery in London, South London Gallery, Chapter in Cardiff, The Hole in New York, Galerie Nordenhake in Berlin, and David Risley Gallery in Copenhagen, among others internationally.
Courtesy of David Risley Gallery