Contemporary Sculpture Work by, Ithaka

Artwork by Greek-Californian contemporary artist, Ithaka
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Links:
https://www.discogs.com/artist/468212-ITHAKA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIZXy50yj_t9UuHqeOQhpGQ
http://planetithaka.blogspot.com/
https://genius.com/artists/Ithaka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaka_Darin_Pappas
http://ithakaofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/IthakaBlue/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ithaka/69363540
https://store.cdbaby.com/artist/Ithaka2
https://www.instagram.com/_ithaka_/?hl=en
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5225987/
https://thehundreds.com/blogs/content/ithaka-interview
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaka
http://upmagazine-tap.com/en/pt_artigos/ithaka-2/

"Turquoise Waves" contemporary sculpture by California artist, Ithaka

 
"Turquoise Waves"

By artist: Ithaka (Ithaka Darin Pappas)

from the series Aliens Of AkahtiLândia,

of the ongoing body of work entitled, 

The Reincarnation Of A Surfboard

*Pieces are currently available

For purchasing or exhibit info see:

http://ithakaofficial.com/

or contact: ithaka.art@gmail.com 

@ithaka_surfboard_reincarnation

http://www.ebay.com/usr/ithart

http://www.artpal.com/ithakaart 

https://www.facebook.com/IthakaBlue/ 

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Ithaka

                 

Born in California, multi-faceted visual artist, global wanderer and naturalist, Ithaka, first began experimenting with photography at the age of 5. By his late-teens, he was doing freelance magazine assignments for publications such as Thrasher Skateboarding.

During his early twenties he found regular work as a photographer in the West Coast music industry photographing hip hop artists such as NWA (Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy E). Also during this period, living in Los Angeles, he began sculpting - primarily using discarded surfboards as his raw material of choice.

His own search for self-expression gradually distanced him from the more commercial applications of photographic work and he began exhibiting both his personal photographs and sculptures (often together) and began traveling extensively.

During the 90's, he relocated several times: Athens (six months), Tokyo (one year), Lisbon (six years) and in 2001 visited Brazil for the first time. Where, for a decade, he has divided his time between Southern California and a rural part of the state of São Paulo. And finally after more than half a year in Mexico, he has finally returned to reside in Southern California

As both a life-long surfer and a connoisseur of urban culture, Ithaka has long had an inner-conflict of city vs. nature. His influences have often been divided between the two worlds, but it's been there in Brazil his love for the wilderness has grown substantially. His new found passion for the jungle, and all of its mysteries, has become the dominant influence in all aspects of his visual work.

Ithaka – (born 1966 Anaheim, California)

Solo Exhibits:

2015 F+ Gallery - "Aliens From AkahtiLândia" (Sculpture, Painting and Photography)

2013 Hurley International Headquarters in Costa Mesa, California (Sculpture, Painting and Photography)

2012 Gallery WOA: Way Of Arts - Cascais, Portugal (Sculpture, Video & Photography)

2011 Nike Posto 5.0 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (sculpture)

2010 The Camp - Costa Mesa, California (sculpture, photography)

2010 Gallery Alma Do Mar - São Paulo, Brazil (sculpture. photography)

2008 Clash - Lisbon, Portugal (sculpture)

2007 Gallery WOA: Way Of Arts - Estoril, Portugal (sculpture)

2000 International Surfing Museum - Huntington Beach California (sculpture)

1998 Gallery Ze Dos Bois "Quality_Time: Part One" - Lisbon, Portugal (photography, text, performance)

1996 IPJ: Instituto Portuguesa Da Juventude "UMBILICUS" - Lisbon, Portugal(photography)

1995 Universidade Moderna - Lisbon, Portugal (sculpture)

1992 Gallery YMA -Tokyo, Japan (sculpture, photography)

1990 Pepperdine University – Los Angeles, California (sculpture)

Group Art Exhibits:

             2016 Surfboards On Parade

2014 Surfboards On Parade - Huntington Beach, California

2014 "Azores Wave Week - Ponta Delgado, São Miguel Island, Portugal

2013 McNamara Gallery - Nazaré, Portugal

2013 Sagres Surf Culture - Sagres, Portugal

2010 Oca Do Ibirapuera - São Paulo, Brazil

2007 Oca Do Ibirapuera - São Paulo, Brazil

2006 MIS - São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound, Brazil

2005 MIS - São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound, Brazil

2003 111 Minna Gallery - San Francisco, California

1999 Photo Impact Gallery - Los Angeles, California

1992 NICAF: Nippon International Contemporary Art Fair - Yokohama, Japan

             1990 Zero One Gallery Los Angeles

   Book Appearances

           2012 "Stop, Think, Go, Do: How Typography and Graphic Design Influence Behavior"

           Ithaka's photo series Umbilicus featured in book by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilic (Rockport publishers)

           2004 BELONG: A TV Journalist's Search for Urban Culture by Jennifer Morton (Canada)

           2003 ALTAS-LUZES - by Rita Carmo & Miguel Cadete (Portugal)

           2000 THE END OF PRINT by David Carson (graphic designer) (USA)

Ithaka Exhibit: City Life: Greed, Hunger and Loss

ASAHI EVENING NEWS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1992

               Fine Arts

City  Life:  Greed,  Hunger and  Loss

By M. Jordan

Special to the Asahi Evening News

   The work now being shown at Galerie YMA in Tokyo, is that of photographer/sculptor, Ithaka.  Although these two mediums seem at first glance to be separate entities, these photos show that the two seem to go hand in hand.  The photographs are a journey into the mysteries of emotions.  When looking at them you cannot help but get caught up into the feelings they conjure; happiness, remorsefulness, confusion unknowingness, mournfulness.

 Ithaka enables the viewer to take a look into the world (perhaps his own hermetic world) of bottled up emotions.  His work is truly personal, his subjects are close friends of his, yet one doesn't feel left out when viewing them.

  Ithaka began assisting photographers at a very young age and shortly thereafter went out on his own.  He has shot photographs for nearly every fashion magazine including, Vogue, Elle and Glamour, and has also shot the record covers for many bands.  The problem for Ithaka was that working specific photograph jobs compromised him from the start.  He began doing sculptures as a way to take a break from the rigors of the job.

   The sculptures used in the photos are cut and restructured surfboards.  All have taken on a new form as well as a new life, displaying the forms of the human body (usually female) as well as Ithaka's own creations.  Before restrictions had been placed on him as to how he could shoot his photos; he had been forced to take a back seat.  Now what he was yearning for was to create his own type of photographs.  He son began to fuse the two mediums, hence coining his own term "sculptography."

   Although Ithaka (Ithaka darin Pappas) was born and raised in Los Angeles, the city proved to have too strong of an impact on his work.  Los Angeles was too overbearing; and he no longer wanted to struggle against the Los Angeles mindset that declares its self to be the center of the globe.  This Los Angeles mindset is perfectly encapsulated in his sculptures shown in this exhibit, entitled "Greed, Hunger, Loss," all representing aspects typical of any metropolis.

   His photos also show the lost feelings that are hard to recover when living in a big city, yet they always remind us of why this loss occurs.  Lying peacefully stretched out in the sand we are mesmerized by the serenity of "Joni by the Sea," yet down below the rocky cliff reality sets in showing what the city is all about--we see a Mercedes and a Lamborghini on the highway below.  Our illusion is shattered and we are immediately pulled back into the present.

 Ithaka 's search for eternal well being has led him to Lisbon, Portugal where he is now based.  Portugal offers him a new outlook on life,.  According to Ithaka, "life here is more simple, when you're in a place like this -- life is about you and the people around you, not the world at large."  One has to wonder where this new exploration will now take him, or us.

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Works by Ithaka at Galerie YMA

(03-3562-0007 on Suzurandori in Ginza near Ginza subway station through Oct.7. 

The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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