BIO:

Jeff Demetriou is an accomplished and internationally-renowned American artist best known for his abstract mixed media works that combine highly conceptual philosophical and existential principals into a unique work process that incorporates photography, digital design, collage, painting and drawing. Themes such as the nature of perception, objectification, idealism, and opposition are common throughout his work, which has been described by many as both meditative and self-reflecting. Demetriou's work can be found in private and public collections from around the world including Atlanta-based Turner and the High Museum of Art. In addition to his paintings, Demetriou is currently working on a large-scale video installation scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.

'STATEMENT':

In a time when our attention, and to a large extent our culture, is so very often commanded and shaped by the superficial, petty and destructive aspects of our society, the role of art and the artist must be one of a subverter and challenger to such things, rather than simply being an imitator or champion of them.

My work is intended to be an impetus for self-reflection and objectivity. It's an appeal to the viewer to stop and honestly question not only the individual role that he or she plays in society and the world as a whole, but also the role individual perception has in shaping and constructing the reality and context in which we all exist.

Of course in the end, the real importance and relevance of a work lies not in its ability to generate chatter, command a high sales price, or even promote deep reflection, but in its solely unique relationship with the viewer. Anything outside of this relationship purported to hold value or influence is meticulously adorned nonsense...so I suppose you should ignore everything I just said.

THE OVERTURE SERIES:

While being introductory in the sense that the Overture series represents the beginning of a fairly new direction for my work, these 'overtures' are also intended to be an introduction of sorts to a different way of perceiving our role and impact upon the world around us. More specifically, how we as human beings, along with our inseparable endeavors, might be perceived by something that, by our definition and understanding of the term, has no ability to perceive; nature.

The series deals primarily with concepts surrounding the idea of nature as being a single sentient entity that possess the ability to have both imaginative and abstract reflections on its own 'reality' as well as simultaneously having the ability to be completely analytical and empirically evaluative.

This intrinsic dichotomy of seemingly diametrically opposing perspectives of reality is imagined in the work as a visual representation of what nature's abstract reflection or meditation on us, and itself, might look like. Similar to the role of a Zen koan, the series' imagery itself, in its most simplest of terms, is paradoxical and intentionally ambiguous in nature and is intended to jar viewers' instinctual and habitual modes of perception; if only for an instant.

In many respects, the series functions as a mirror; reflecting viewers' own fears, dreams, goals, expectations, etc. back at them. People feel what they want to feel and see what they want to see in the work. Some people see "crosshairs" and violence in the work, while others see points of life or even camera viewfinder brackets. Though these interpretations are not where the series springs from, conceptually or visually, they do speak more so about the viewer and the headspace they're in rather than the work itself...which is entirely intended and welcomed.