Biographical Data
Born in 1931 in Filiatra, Greece. He lives and works in Paris. Since his early childhood, Pavlos shows an interest in drawing. He studies Fine Arts in Athens and, later, at the Grande Chaumière Academy in Paris. From 1954 to 1956 he works in scenography and advertising in Greece, before settling in Paris in 1958. His first individual exhibition takes place in 1964. His work shares many characteristics with the work of the Nouveaux Réalistes; Pierre Restany says to him: “You are a Nouveaux Réaliste because you have made the segment of the thing yours”. In 1980, he represents Greece in the Venice Biennale.
Brief Chronology
In 1961, Pavlos collects magazines and cuts them in strips: “I used scissors and a cutter to cut magazines”. He makes assemblages with materials, creates volumes in bas-relief, and later he does the same with posters (slip sheets he gets from the printing houses) he also shreds. In 1966 his strips acquire the shape of everyday objects (trees, flowers, sandwiches, dresses, curtains, etc.). In 1968 he creates environments with his shredded posters making columns and curtains (“the essence of sculpture is the column”; La Forêt, 1972). He also uses steel wool to draw between two plexiglas plates or draws on walls with ochre chalk. In the 70’s he begins working in a collection of still lives with poster shreds and in 1980 makes sculptures with gift ribbons. In 1988, he inspires himself in nature and creates environments made with small cut pieces of posters (landscapes, the countryside, seascapes; Cyprès, 1990). In 2000 he begins creating three dimensional still lives, his strips of paper take different shapes: (Camembert, 2000), fruit, mushrooms, food, bottles, etc. (Grand bar, 2000).
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