By Orfeas Efthimiou Mouyzouras

By: Nick Gkaveras

How and where it started from.

Graffiti (known also as graffito) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, with or without permission and within public view. Usually, it is done illegally. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, in ancient Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire.

It was discovered from a man called Jean-Michel Basquiat. He was an American person who rose to success during the 1980s as a part of the Neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat achieved fame as a part of a graffiti crew called SAMO.

Debate on whether it is or it in not art.

Nowadays when people hear about graffiti, they think of the art they see on big houses, like apartment buildings, which are made by professional artists who get paid a lot of money to do it.

This mindset leads us to a debate on whether graffiti is art or it is not.

Graffiti in some points of view is not art, because it is just a bunch of big letters drawn on a wall which with a little bit of practice can literately be done by everyone. This type of graffiti does not require any skill in painting and can be done by everyone with just a little bit of practice and that is why it in not art. Instead, in other points of view it is a real art when it is done by a professional who knows how to paint and will make something incredible. This type of graffiti, now, can only be done by professionals because it requires a lot of skills and it is very expensive.

“Types” of graffiti writers.

Basically, there two categories of graffiti artists. The street ones and the professional ones. The fact that stands out street graffiti artists from professional graffiti artists, is that the first ones do their “job-hobby” illegally which leads them in taking the risk of getting caught and ending up in prison. Professional artists do not have to worry about getting caught because they do graffiti legally. Also, professional graffiti artists not only get paid to paint but also all of the supplies they will use, get covered from the person who pays them, so they pay nothing.

Pictures of different types of graffiti art.

This picture is an example of what people think when they hear about graffiti. This painting work has been done by a professional artist who might has been paid to do this.

In the other hand that is a picture of a man painting a wall illegally. As we can see he is dressed in black clothes which gives him a layer of “privacy” from people who might not like his acts and call the police. The paint he has done, in the graffiti “language” is called a “throw up”.

The consequences of getting caught.

Important is also the fact that in most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered vandalism, which is a punishable crime, and the person who did it can go to jail for a long period of time depending on the place he drew.

Street graffiti artist getting arrested for painting somewhere illegally who will probably end up in jail.

Links of the pictures

Infos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti

picture of the arrested person:https://www.google.com/search?q=arrested+graffiti+artists&sxsrf=ALiCzsb1n7NlnigWjohjNLQkX5z44ORJKg:1671744164870&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjKwOiolI78AhUAYPEDHcfZDq8Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=912&dpr=1#imgrc=L9SJJK6_6LXh-M

picture of the character piece: https://riversofsteel.com/artist-profile-shane-pilster/

picture of the man painting: https://www.facebook.com/ThrowUpsGraffitiShop/photos/seen/488515781332512/?paipv=0&eav=AfazXrP65VtGvYq6xv9_5NGRGgklHMZgilhUMZHoCNLSwpQKaCd7yE0mAXeB2Ir2CzY&_rdr

Van Gogh Paintings Student Collages

By Maria Stefanidi & Aphridite-Hara Papachristopoulou

By Faedra Drossou

Read the comic strip below:

 By Helen Georgiou and Helen Gianakopoulou (A Class)

Do you know Vincet van Gogh? Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life.  Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and was considered a madman and a failure. According to the legend van Gogh sold only one painting, The Red Vineyard, bought for 400 Francs by the painter and art collector Anna Boch.  His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century. Today, he is widely regarded as one of history’s greatest painters and an important contributor to the foundations of modern art.

Nowadays, in Athens there is a magnificent and unique exhibition of all the works of the great Dutch painter, which we visited last month.  This presentation is unique because it is done with a method that reveals new perspectives.  Van Gogh’s works of art, are projected on the walls, floor and ceiling of the venue and visitors are able to walk through them.  It narrates the history of his works of art, it describes the historical, social and cultural environment in which he worked. The exhibition records and analyzes his creative periods and influences and touches his thoughts and his feelings.

In our opinion, it is an interesting presentation and definitely different. We also liked it because you can learn a lot about his life in an enjoyable way. WE definitely recommend this extraordinary exhibition for everyone. You don’t want to miss it!

By Gennaios Likourgiotis (A class)

Starry nights and sunflowers, self-portraits and café settings-all painted in bold, intense colors. Today, people around the world immediately recognize these as the work of Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter. Probably no other artist, at any time in any culture, has achieved such popularity. But who was this man exactly, and why, even today, do his art and life have such power to move us?

An artist is born

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in a small village, in southern Holland. As a child he was serious and sensitive. He loved to draw, and his work showed talent, but no one encouraged him to become an artist. Instead, his father thought he should take a sensible job-something like a carpenter. As a young adult, he wandered from job to job with little success and very little money, becoming more depressed with each failure.

In March 1880, however, just before his 27^th birthday, something changed inside van Gogh. He realized he was meant to be a painter, and he began to study art, receiving a subsidy from his brother Theo, which helped him to live.

Discovering color

In 1886, van Gogh moved from Holland to Paris, hoping to learn more about color techniques being used by Impressionist artists there. Instead of greys and browns, his work began to emphasize blue and red, and then yellow and orange. Soon he began to see life differently: Go slow. Stop thinking. Look around. You’ll see something beautiful if you open yourself. These were the principles that guided his art. With his innovative color combinations, van Gogh wanted to show his viewers how to better appreciate a flower, the night sky, or a person’s face.

Descent into madness

Few who lived in van Gogh’s time appreciated his work, however. Many laughed when they saw his paintings, which hurt the sensitive artist terribly. In February 1888 he moved away from Paris to Arles, a town in southern France. Often he could not eat or sleep, and stayed up into the early morning hours painting.

Days passed, and he spoke to no one. Following an argument with his fellow artist Paul Gauguin, van Gogh took a razor and cut off his own earlobe. He never explained why, but by now, many were convinced that van Gogh was crazy, and indeed, his mental health started to decline. He began to have attacks during which he would hear strange sounds and think people were trying to hurt him. In the spring of 1889, he was sent to a mental hospital in St. Remy, a town near Arles.

What exactly was van Gogh suffering from? No one knows for sure, but some now think it may have been a form of manic depression. Whatever his condition, van Gogh’s illness both inhibited and inspired his creativity. When his attacks came, he could not paint. But during his periods of calm, he was able to complete more than a hundred masterpieces, including the classic The Starry Night. “Working on my pictures”, he wrote, “is almost a necessity for my recovery.”

The Starry Night

Final Days

Following his release from hospital in May 1890, van Gogh took a room in a town just north of Paris. For the 70 days that he lived there, he produced, on average, a painting a day. Until his death, however, he was unable to sell a single one; today those paintings would be worth more than a billion U.S. dollars.

It was at this time that van Gogh either borrowed or stole a gun. On the afternoon of July 27, 1890, he went out to the country and shot himself in the stomach. Two days later, Vincent van Gogh died at the age of 37.

What caused him to take his own life- his lack of financial success, mental illness, his loneliness? The question, like so many others in van Gogh’s life, remains unanswered.

Van Gogh’s Legacy

Over a century after his death, van Gogh still remains extremely popular. His story-of a man who resisted materialism, who was alone and unappreciated-gives people something they need. We find pieces of ourselves in him. This may also explain the insanely high prices paid for van Gogh’s work. His Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold in 1990 for more than $80 million to a Japanese businessman, breaking the world for art pieces. Many of his other works have also been sold for millions. Of course, people are buying great art when they purchase one of van Gogh’s paintings. But they are also buying a piece of history, which, like his work, will live on forever.

Portrait of Dr. Gachet

By Gennaios Likourgiotis (A class)

Starry nights and sunflowers, self-portraits and café settings-all painted in bold, intense colors. Today, people around the world immediately recognize these as the work of Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter. Probably no other artist, at any time in any culture, has achieved such popularity. But who was this man exactly, and why, even today, do his art and life have such power to move us?

An artist is born

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in a small village, in southern Holland. As a child he was serious and sensitive. He loved to draw, and his work showed talent, but no one encouraged him to become an artist. Instead, his father thought he should take a sensible job-something like a carpenter. As a young adult, he wandered from job to job with little success and very little money, becoming more depressed with each failure.

In March 1880, however, just before his 27^th birthday, something changed inside van Gogh. He realized he was meant to be a painter, and he began to study art, receiving a subsidy from his brother Theo, which helped him to live.

Discovering color

In 1886, van Gogh moved from Holland to Paris, hoping to learn more about color techniques being used by Impressionist artists there. Instead of greys and browns, his work began to emphasize blue and red, and then yellow and orange. Soon he began to see life differently: Go slow. Stop thinking. Look around. You’ll see something beautiful if you open yourself. These were the principles that guided his art. With his innovative color combinations, van Gogh wanted to show his viewers how to better appreciate a flower, the night sky, or a person’s face.

Descent into madness

Few who lived in van Gogh’s time appreciated his work, however. Many laughed when they saw his paintings, which hurt the sensitive artist terribly. In February 1888 he moved away from Paris to Arles, a town in southern France. Often he could not eat or sleep, and stayed up into the early morning hours painting.

Days passed, and he spoke to no one. Following an argument with his fellow artist Paul Gauguin, van Gogh took a razor and cut off his own earlobe. He never explained why, but by now, many were convinced that van Gogh was crazy, and indeed, his mental health started to decline. He began to have attacks during which he would hear strange sounds and think people were trying to hurt him. In the spring of 1889, he was sent to a mental hospital in St. Remy, a town near Arles.

What exactly was van Gogh suffering from? No one knows for sure, but some now think it may have been a form of manic depression. Whatever his condition, van Gogh’s illness both inhibited and inspired his creativity. When his attacks came, he could not paint. But during his periods of calm, he was able to complete more than a hundred masterpieces, including the classic The Starry Night. “Working on my pictures”, he wrote, “is almost a necessity for my recovery.”

  The Starry Night

Final Days

Following his release from hospital in May 1890, van Gogh took a room in a town just north of Paris. For the 70 days that he lived there, he produced, on average, a painting a day. Until his death, however, he was unable to sell a single one; today those paintings would be worth more than a billion U.S. dollars.

It was at this time that van Gogh either borrowed or stole a gun. On the afternoon of July 27, 1890, he went out to the country and shot himself in the stomach. Two days later, Vincent van Gogh died at the age of 37.

What caused him to take his own life- his lack of financial success, mental illness, his loneliness? The question, like so many others in van Gogh’s life, remains unanswered.

Van Gogh’s Legacy

Over a century after his death, van Gogh still remains extremely popular. His story-of a man who resisted materialism, who was alone and unappreciated-gives people something they need. We find pieces of ourselves in him. This may also explain the insanely high prices paid for van Gogh’s work. His Portrait of Dr. Gachet was sold in 1990 for more than $80 million to a Japanese businessman, breaking the world for art pieces. Many of his other works have also been sold for millions. Of course, people are buying great art when they purchase one of van Gogh’s paintings. But they are also buying a piece of history, which, like his work, will live on forever.

   Portrait of Dr. Gachet

  Bedroom in Arles

By Christina Kazakou (B class)

It’s weird but real! The beautiful Greek sky in one video now on your screen!

Peter Filippou made an extraordinary time-lapse video of 6 minutes about the Greek sky. His work is included in the official selection of the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards for December and won the price Best of the Fest.

This video is made in memory of his father Kostas who died when he was diagnosed with cancer and anyone else who fights with this disease. Peter also had cancer and doctors gave him 3-6 months of life but miraculously he managed to win the fight against the cancer. His purpose is to create a channel with some foreign people in order to help those who suffer from this disease.

365 days….. 55.000 photos….825 hours of shooting…….8.400 km and 650 hours of montage were needed in order to create this 6 minutes video. It is a fact that he managed to capture in a unique way the amazing Greek sky. He took pictures from Pelion and Volos, Meteora, Mount Athos, Antiparos, up to Kalavrita and Patras. Peter also thanks his two friends Konstantinos Themelis and Christophe Anagnostopoulos who helped him with his work. To watch the video click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i_0_7Xy_6o