galerie probst
In his work, Leon Manoloudakis explores the relationship between dark graphite and light-colored paper. The graphite is first ground by the artist and applied or swept onto the thin paper by hand as a fine powder. Depending on the type of paper, the graphite forms an opaque or metallic surface, making the properties of the two materials visible. The third central element of his work is the eraser. With its help, individual lines or entire surfaces are freed from the graphite and then partially covered again with a new layer of graphite, whereby several layers of different densities are built up on the paper.
"The effect of this iterative working method is that the image space is staggered into different, sometimes only subtly distinguishable gray values from deep black anthracite gray, through a streaky storm gray to a fine light gray, which often gives it the appearance of an archaic landscape or of heavily underexposed photographs."
Viewers can not only see the individual layers of graphite, but also the different surface structures that rubbing, sweeping and erasing leave behind in the finished work. These structures are even more visible in the works in which Manoloudakis folds or tears the sheets of paper and then reassembles them into collages. Here, too, the resulting texture is reminiscent of landscapes or deformations caused by an external force.
