George A. Stathis:
"London Calling"
 
History:

I did this painting in my later Buddhist phase, while I was still a member of a Buddhist Centre in Greece.
I was also involved in music at the time, and began to interpret the lyrics of Rock & Punk music from a "spiritual perspective".
The album "
London Calling" (by Clash) contained some subtle references to false gurus in the song "Four horsemen". So I painted this picture and also wrote a long article, analysing the album. Later on, Manolis Daloukas (a music journalist; today a Greek TV personality) liked the painting , recommending it to Makis Milatos, chief editor of monthly mag "Phenomenon", where that article was published. (At the time, I was writing regular articles for "Phenomenon", such as one about Pink Floyd's "The Wall"; another one was a presentation of Home Computers & Artificial Intelligence.
 
The Clash: London Calling
   

Semantics
:


This painting was inspired by the front cover photo of the music album "London Calling" (by "The Clash"). The two clusters of eyes (one at the back and another at the front of the guitarist) were probably influenced by George Orwell's book "1984" (and the "regime of Big Brother"). This great book had a decisive impact on the philosophy of my late twenties.

However, whereas the eyes at the front are the "evil eyes" (that the guitarist is fighting off), the "good eyes" at the back are the symbols of an emerging "collective consciousness", able to transcend "Big Brother" -and his ruffians...

NOTE (2004):
Of course, I did not foresee that -two decades later- Orwell's  vision of "Big Brother" would provideinspiration for the name of a lethal blow against human dignity: TV reality shows.

 


Acrylic painting on canvas, 40x50 cm
( also a front cover of
"Phenomenon" magazine )






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