The first solo exhibition of artist Elias Tsakmakis borrows its title from the opening sentence of humanity’s very first cosmological work, written down on text during a time when the first human settlements, and their simultaneous importance as centres of the political, economic and cultural activity, bloomed into the City-States spread across the land of Ancient Mesopotamia.

The title and the presented works denote an approach, concerned with the dynamic and bidirectional relation between contemporary man and his natural and sociological environment. The ‘City’ itself is not merely the sum of its lifeless structures, but even more the expanded field on which the ambitions and the creativity of its inhabitants is projected, the matrix in which they grow, educate and define themselves. It serves as both the journey and the destination.

The acts of the exhibition are taking place around two axes and size scales, while being depicted upon sculptural and two-dimensional mediums. The upper scale is denoted by the physical presence of the City and its accompanying landscapes, while the impression of the echo of the latter on the human element indicate the lower one. Through the narrative produced by the coexistence of the works a feedback phenomenon between an inner and an outer world where man stands as the interface is presented.

The artist draws his inspiration from the landscapes, the sounds, the highly structured incoherence and the frenetic rhythms of living in the contemporary urban environment and attempts to depict the ways in which the latter reflect the idiosyncrasies, beliefs, dreams but also misconceptions of its inhabitants.

Elias Tsakmakis was born in 1980 in Athens. He studied at the 2nd Laboratory of Athens School of Fine Arts, where from he graduated in 2012 under the supervision of the professor G. Lappas. During his studies, he attended engraving, pottery, stage design, photography and modern multimedia course. Furthermore, he has graduated from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Patras. He has participated in five group exhibitions in chosen galleries and art spaces in Athens. His work was also presented during the International Contemporary Art Fair (Art-Athina 2013), in Art Zone 42 Gallery.