Gianni Kazakis 
b. 1998 in Detroit, MI, USA
Currently based in Athens, Greece

Gianni Kazakis (1998) is an American-born Greek visual artist. His work examines the color experience as it relates to human-defined consciousness within the context of phenomenology and color psychology. He holds a BFA from the Florence State Academy of Fine Arts in Italy, where he studied Visual Arts with a focus on color psychology while receiving a fully funded scholarship. Kazakis has participated in exhibitions both nationally and internationally and has collaborated with a diverse range of regional and national institutions, as well as non-profit organizations. 

 

Throughout his work, he uses monochrome as a key to unlocking human emotions under the phenomenological approach of color. His environment re-creations suggest how the extraordinary can be staged and transformed from the ordinary, serving as a scenographic device for self-understanding and self-realization. Most of his work remains untitled and are given a unique serial number instead. This approach allows viewers to question their role in space uninfluenced by a title; are we casual or actively engaged observers? As a Greek-American who grew up in a religious and conservative environment, this question was of utmost importance to him. As a result, he tries to push the boundaries of observers to question what they are actually seeing through a color experience. He counters viewing entropy by introducing a subtle monochrome order to chaotic emotions. Inspired by color psychology, he leaves enough space for viewers to create their own reality.