Platon H.
Platon H. was born in Paris in 1950. He comes from a three generations artistic family and was brought up in French and Greek cultural and intellectual milieus. In the circles where his parents (an architect and an archaeologist) moved in, he grew up among artists of different nationalities who were living and working in Paris and Athens between 1950 and 1970. All these people surrounded Platon H. from an early age with their ideas and creativity, shaping his personality and art. Without him realizing it at the time, they were his teachers along with his father who taught him how to ‘use his hands’ and made him familiar with construction and building materials. As a regular visitor to the French Archaeological School in Greece he became familiar with ancient walls assemblage, mosaics, floors and with aesthetics in general.
He started painting in the ’70s, very much influenced by Francois Morellet and Vasarely. The “structure”, the “hazard”, and the “games” played an essential role in the construction of his surfaces. The idea of organising chaos came from playing Mikado and constructing puzzles.
In parallel with his work as a Greek civil servant, Platon H. started creating organic surfaces in the 1980’s, inspired by Normandy’s seaweeds after a low tide.
Sea, Earth and Sky (Thallassa, Gaia, Ouranos) are his building blocks and source of inspiration.
Using timeless organic media. Platon H. directs our attention to natural materials that we usually take for granted and pass by without noticing. In this way he creates a strong link between the past and the present, giving life to “nature morte” not by trying to imitate Nature, but by revealing its contemporary abstract aspects in it.
Following a "crash course" with his son on how to use softwares, Platon has recently started experimenting with the digital arts, using nature photography to produce the most interesting patterns. Those digital paintings offer illimited applications to contemporary fashion and design.
Historian of Sculpture Charles Avery who was enthusiastic with his work on Platon H. wrote :
“The painstaking craftsmanship and exploratory, self-taught technique recalls the unsurpassed efforts of Athenian craftsmen in the classic fifth century B.C., who could clothe a monumental statue in sheet gold, using for the exposed flesh parts plaques of precious ivory, softened by boiling (…) and pre-shaped to conform with the human image of an Athena Parthenos or an Olympian Zeus in their respective shrines. Apelles is said to have added a fly to the surface of a painting as a trompe l’oeil device and Zeuxis to have painted grapes so real that the very birds were deceived and swooped down to peck at them. Such games Platon H. also plays with our perceptions of reality.”
Some exhibitions
Read more about Platon:
- 2004: In London at Derek Johns Gallery, 12 Duke Street, St. James’s
- 2007: In Paris at Deyrolle’s Gallery
- 2010: Participate at the group exhibition "Natura 2.0" curated by Destry Sparks, South Dakota University, U.S.A.
- 2011: Pascal Polar Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
- 2012: Participate in a group exhibition at The "Cercle Royal Gaulois Artistique et Litteraire" curated by Ferdinand Pire, Brussels, Belgium
- 2012: At the BRAFA (Brussels Antiques and Art Fair) with a work at David Levy's stand
- 2013: Participate at "Skin touch" group exhibition at cornette de Saint Cyr, Bruxelles
- 2013: Musée des Beaux Arts de Tournai, "La beauté sauvera le monde" / "Quand l'homme contemple l'Univers" (April - July)
- 2014: Participation : LA ART SHOW at STUDIO 26 GALLERY NYC
- 2014: Seconde Biénnale Internationale de l'Art Contemporain, Casablanca
- 2016: Terre - Air - Mer - Galerie Bab El Kébir, Rabat
- 2016: ULB - Urgences Grèce, Bruxelles
- 2016: "La Nature Sauvera le Monde" dans la cadre de la COP 22
- 2017: "Creatures and creations" at Waddesdon manor,
United Kingdom
- Platon gave Prasinizo.gr an exclusive interview from abroad / read
-"Fusion of the abstract and the real in Nature" text by Platon Alexis Hadjimichalis, March 2014 / download pdf
- Structured Obsessive Compulsive Organic Surfaces, by Platon Alexis Hadjimichalis / read
- Platon’s still lives, by Danièle Gillemon / read
- Collage a la grecque : Platon- Alexis Hadjimichalis – magic S.O.C.O.S by Dr.Charles Avery / read
- Platon H et les S.O.C.O.S (in French) by Richard d'Aix / read
- Will Shank about Alexis Hadjimichalis (in French)
Barcelona / read
- Collect magazine SOCOS, by Christophe Dosogne / February 2012 / read
- Arts Libre du 02/12/2011, by Claude Lorent. (in French) / download pdf
- Vimagazino, December 25, 2011. (in Greek) / download pdf
- Artist Q&A: Paton H on‘Creatures & Creations’ / read on Design insider magazine