STYLIANOS SCHICHO | An Exclusive Interview by Leila Antakly

In Stylianos Schicho’s works, the spectator is encouraged to question his viewpoints, change his perspective or look at himself differently. Stylianos Schicho is always concerned with observation, communication, and interaction.
In this month’s “Getting To Know,” Leila Antakly interviews Austrian artist Stylianos Schicho who talks to us about his inspiration, creative process, and upcoming shows.

“In my opinion, the current situation has developed rapidly into something explosive – politically and socially.”
– Stylianos Schicho

Leila Antakly: It’s a pleasure having this interview. Please tell Art Market’s readers how and when did you decide you wanted to become an artist?

Stylianos Schicho: I was about eleven years old when I got my hands on an awe-inspiring book about Viennese art from the turn of the century. Inspired by the sketches and paintings I saw within, I began to draw. I became interested in how masters like Klimt, Schiele, and Kokoschka expressed their representation of human existence. For me, this was a form of magic to create people or situations from my own imagination, and that was the start of my creative process.

L. A.: What were some of the obstacles you faced as you developed your talent and got deeper involved in the arts?

S. S.: The art world as we know it has always been a game for the wealthy and famous, so as a young artist starting out, developing a personal style is essential to become recognized. Collectors, curators, gallerists, and exhibitions –
the whole circus is waiting for you to be fed to the lions … critics, haters, and personal failure seem to be part of the deal, at least for many. It’s almost a must to go through this in order to learn the business. Internationally the art market demands that you must aim to become a global brand or nothing. I think it is more important to concentrate on certain people, like family, friends, and colleagues that you can count on, to really stay grounded in this business.

L. A.: Greatest inspirations or influences?

S. S.: If you are an artist – everything can influence your work- the world is full of strange and fascinating things. Something that is very important for me as an artist and for the development of my work is questioning my inner self and analyzing the results or the outcome. I ask the following; What are those images, and what patterns begin to appear…? What are ongoing issues in the global society that I would like to explore? What is this collective consciousness in the time of social distance and lockdown?

L. A.: Tell us a bit about your creative process?

S. S.: It’s challenging to talk about your own work; it’s like being a bird and an ornithologist at the same time. My focus has always been to observe socially relevant flows, currents, tensions, and other issues- in order to transform them into art. In short, to map and depict global social events.
My image formats inevitably confront. In recent works, the figures with their semi-transparent bodies turn their backs on the viewer. You can recognize a certain refusal, a turning away, maybe the ultimate retreat, a persistent, circular border around the protagonists separates them with thick lines of coal. Their territory is being staked out.
You have been delivered; only the white space around the screen still offers some freedom.

In 2017, I did create a piece that can be seen as an analogy to the work “Angelus Novus” by Paul Klee from 1920. Its interpretation by Walter Benjamin provided an approach in terms of content in which my years of work accumulated. Out of an impulse, I drew an owl in the dust of an old glass door as a reference to Angelus Novus, Klee’s angel of history.
It stops with its open wings against the wind of progress, wants to bring rescue, but can no longer close its protective wings. The owl is driven backwards into the future.
An additional aspect is the angle of the light reflected on the dusty glass and its shadow play, creating a double image. Something always remains hidden from us is swallowed up by the outline that we ourselves cast on the glass surface. It is no longer a question of our being observed, no longer primarily about the surveillance apparatus and today’s communication society.
My main concern is to be aware of one’s own perspective, to recognize one’s own blind spots.
In a significant way, it is about the point of view that we take and whether we can let ourselves be moved from here and live with the downside that emerges.

L. A.: How has this year changed your creativity, or how you see the world changing moving forward?

S. S.: To be honest, I am used to loneliness and isolation in the studio as an artist. If a comparison can be drawn at all, it is like the work of a lighthouse keeper, not exactly sociable – but the real adventures for artists take place in the head.
The great art is always to deceive oneself in order to be able to break new ground, both formally and artistically.
At the moment, the past – in the form of my old work – seems to be catching up with me – due to the current precarious situation – the images do resemble reality. However, I’m not talking about a Cassandra effect. The result is a very strange and uneasy feeling. It is like I’m starting to wait …for my own past…to become past, but it won’t stop – being future.
Like a daily routine of going in circles…At the same time, it is worrying for me to see my pictures become (somehow) real.
Modern human life is a constant struggle between closeness and distance, communication and interaction, intimacy and isolation – these points have always been the focus of my work and have now become even clearer and omnipresent. A scenario that we all now know from our daily life is the encounter of sober, evasive looks, while important facial expressions remain hidden by the face mask.
It is that seemingly distant attitude that my characters also express.

L. A.: How do you describe your style and technique?

S. S.: I start with a drawing, a line that should be delicate, nearly hovering, and should be light but strong at the same time. It is like dancing; you just have to close your eyes and let go.
People seem to remember my works for years, as it was often a point of lively discussions when they suddenly realized that they have seen them somewhere, and since then, an ongoing question stuck in their mind, a lingering image that stood there, as if the observed from within the painting, was inscribed in their visual grammar. People also recognize the situations when they are confronted with the same circumstances shown within – mass surveillance, suppression by global power structures, segregation through money, and other social issues – that everyone is more and more concerned with.

L. A.: How do you feel about the way artists are using technology and your opinion on the NFT hype and its effect on the art world?

S. S.: Uniqueness of art, NFT, we do not know where the train is heading, but it is fast, and indeed it is worth hopping on the ride for a few stations.

L. A.: Tell us about the upcoming Shows

S. S.: Fun Fact – “WAITING GAMES”- my future exhibition, which is waiting for itself in the title, will become its own content due to the Corona-related postponement of its opening and, thus strangely, somehow complete.

Stylianos Schicho – WAITING GAMES |
May 6 – June 19, 2021
HilgerNEXT – Absberggasse 27, Stiege III, 2nd floor – 1100 Vienna
https://www.hilger.at

And I will be featuring my work in Vienna in a group exhibition:
(K)EIN MENSCH IST EINE INSEL / Group Exhibition / May 1 – August 8, 2021
Künstlerhaus, Gesellschaft bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler Österreichs – Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Vienna
https://www.k-haus.at

Read the full article in Art Market Magazine Issue #59