Golden Newspapers series — Panos Tsagaris "Panos Tsagaris"

Panos Tsagaris’ photographic work aims to transcend traditional practices of imagery, by incorporating existing published material with transformative processes, towards the production of symbolic objects that underline our individual and collective struggle with spiritual development. The smooth, fragile and appeasing surface of the gold leaf in the “Golden Newspaper” series, subverts the violence and intensity of the visual imagery, while at the same time its value exemplifies the questionable relation between the self and material wealth. Therefore, by using the sociopolitical reality of a nation to attest to the struggle of the individual, the work becomes the connecting link of the space between the real and the unconscious. This idea is further expressed in the work “For Between the Light and the Darkness We Stand (CHAOS)”, where the space between the real and the unconscious is not only emphasized via the illuminating process from dark to light, but also expanded in length and size to portray the distance of that space between those two circumstances. The actual space the work occupies is therefore indicative of the symbolic representation of the distance in stages we need to cover to reach the truth, while the time required for the absorption of the work reflects the temporal element of the process. The degree of struggle visualized in the newspapers where the text is removed, is reversed here and replaced with textual imagery, void of photos, asserting in that way the verbal interpretation of the transformative process. A political phenomenon becomes the vessel through which the need for self-development is highlighted, while the selection of global press covers in the works implicates the universal reach of this condition, and the essence of the element of interconnectedness associated with spiritual growth.

Text by Maria Nicolacopoulou

“The Union” gold leaf on newspaper 22”x12” (56x30.5 cm) each 2012

“The Riots” gold leaf on newspaper 22”x12” (56x30.5 cm) each 2012

“For Between the Light and the Darkness we Stand (CHAOS)”, archival inkjet prints, 14”x11” (36x28 cm) each, 2011

“September 27 2012”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2015

“October 20 2011”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2014

“June 16 2011”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2015

“May 06 2010”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2014

“February 13 2012”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2014

“July 14 2015”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2015

“June 30 2011”, gold leaf on archival inkjet print, 60”x33” (150x85 cm) 2015

"Nigredo" gold leaf on archival inkjet prints 60”x33” (150x85 cm) each print 2018

Nigredo, or blackness in Latin, in the alchemical sense, means putrefaction, decomposition. By the penetration of the external fire, the inner fire is activated and the matter starts to putrefy. The body is reduced to its primal matter from which it originally arose. This process is also called ‘cooking’.The Body is to be decomposed, that is one shifts one’s awareness to the inner self. Psychologically, nigredo is a process of directing oneself to find self-knowledge.

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