Demetrios Papakostas

artist statement

There is something about the simple serenity of being present and finding my way through the creative process. On the surface, my work is about reflection, and objectively searching for something beyond what is in front of me.
Though each piece has a definite beginning, the work rarely allows me to know what direction it will take or when it will appear completed. Building layers of form and color, I proceed intuitively, continuously changing, covering up, even discarding certain elements as I proceed. Constantly rethinking the surface seems an important step; My internal search for the necessary and intangible connection to the work. At times, I am painting a sketch of my mind’s thoughts and emotions which can leave me equally vulnerable to triumph and failure and deliver a sometimes rewarding sense of purpose.

artist bio

Demetrios Papakostas was born in Montreal in 1960.
Papakostas studied art at the Visual Arts Centre in Montreal and the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts. Demetrios first studied watercolor and multi-media semi-privately with artist Heather Yamada for several years. Later as Papakostas was drawn progressively toward abstraction, he studied with artist Nicole Lebel and enrolled in day intensive courses with prominent Canadian abstract artist Harold Klunder for a period of several years.
Since 2003, Demetrios decided to pursue his art career full-time after working as the director of a daycare for more than 25 years. Papakostas has shown in several group exhibitions including Galerie Beaux Arts des Ameriques, Galerie Klimantiris, Galerie Espace and the Filling Spaces show at Galerie de la Ville in Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec and some of his latest artwork can be seen in a Quebec-made film, entitled “Sur le Rythme”

In March 2011 Demetrios was selected to participate in the Toronto Artist Project and in April of the same year, his work was selected through a juried process for a show entitled Weatherproof at Latitude 44 Gallery in Toronto Ontario. Papakostas has also joined Galerie Beaux-Arts des Ameriques in Montreal as an emerging artist this past November. He is a teacher’s assistant to Heather Yamada at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and his work is present in several corporate and private collections.