Australian folklore and Greek myth

Greek born Melbourne based artist Vasos Tsesmelis is using his paintbrush to tell the story of Ned Kelly through Greek mythology


As far as I’m concerned, the name Ned Kelly is one of the most important names in Australian history. Forget about our prime ministers, wealthy individuals – Ned Kelly’s name is still on top of that list.

Vasos Tsemelis confesses to always being intrigued by visual arts. From a young age, he was fascinated with watching his thoughts, his vision, come to life. In his quest to depict the abstract world and thoughts into tangible but powerful messages, he paints immortalised, transformed and – at times – dismembered figures to a point where it may shock or offend.
“My work is not intended to be dark but quite the contrary,” he says, “enlightening, empowering, questioning and evocative, a snap shot of history, a moment in time witnessed through the Cubist eye.
“I strive to inspire and attract human instincts and interests towards the painting. I find this a fundamental must in any work of art.”
Born on the Aegean island of Samos in 1944, Vasos migrated to Australia at the age of ten. It was at the South Melbourne Technical School where he was lucky enough to be taught art one on one by what he describes as an incredibly talented art teacher. During the next three years, he broadened his vision and creativity and developed his skills and techniques. It was also a time where he was introduced to prolific artist Pablo Picasso. He had found his vision come alive.
“The thing that interested me the most about Picasso was that he was always talking about Greek mythology,” Vasos tells Neos Kosmos. He would read endless books on Picasso to find out he was fascinated with minotaurs – to the point he depicted himself as one.
“I instantly found my path and vision,” says Vasos about the work of Picasso which subsequently also opened his thirst for Greek mythology.
In 1969, Vasos graduated from architecture from RMIT and spent over 46 years working and designing buildings. As part of his studies in architecture, Vasos studied the history of art from all eras, backgrounds and styles.
“I would design a building and drop my design to do sketches – my drawers would be filled with little sketches over the years,” he remembers.
“What was influencing me in architecture was the Cubist approach of Picasso through forms, not anything else but the form of things,” he explains of how his background in the arts influenced his career choice.
“And I’m an islander and most of the islands in Greece are a Cubist expression more than anything else so it was a natural progression for me – both architecture and art run side by side and it’s all to do with conceptual thinking.”
Even though he says he has been influenced by many sources and events, there are two fundamental ones.
“My Aegean island heritage, where I lived during my informative years until I was 10 years old, in what can also be described to some degree as a Cubist developed environment, and secondly by Pablo Picasso, the artist who has influenced the world all over.”
The year was 1999 when Vasos’ fascination with the mythology of his motherland developed in relation to the mythology of his Australia. In his eyes, there’s only one myth, one legend in Australia; Ned Kelly. Even though he understand the Kelly family are fact, what surrounds them is an air of mystery and pure enchantment.
“As far as I’m concerned, the name Ned Kelly is one of the most important names in Australian history,” he says. “Forget about our prime ministers, wealthy individuals – Ned Kelly’s name is still on top of that list.”
They way Ned Kelly is viewed is dependent on each individual’s point of view. Some viewed him as a villain, an outlaw; others as a hero purely because he – and his whole convict family – were underdogs.
“He fought for what he believed in, so it’s up to you how you interpret the name Ned Kelly, because it goes back so far, that’s why I feel it’s like a myth.
The collection began to take shape in 2000, when he started to paint images depicting the myth of Ned Kelly, using his Cubist eye with a hint of Greek mythology to accentuate his views on this Australian myth. The work spans 12 years in total and is made up of 19 images from the life, the legend and the death of Ned Kelly. Each year from 2000 onwards, Vasos would paint one or two, until he received a call from Without Pier Gallery, in Cheltenham, asking about his Ned Kelly series. After that, he completed the series at the end of last year and the beginning of this year and is ready to exhibit and sell his collection.
To create this collection, Vasos immersed himself in the life of Ned Kelly and the Kelly gang, but juxtaposed those readings with books on Greek mythology and began to get a visual picture of the combination of both. But central to all his work on Ned Kelly is the metal armour the outlaw wore.
“The word metal is very important to me, both as an architect and as an artist,” he explains. He took the word metal literally and used aluminium foil and oil based paints to create his series.
This is the artist’s third exhibition in Australia, and he credits the late Kostas Tsikaderis – and many others who he associated with in the Greek community in the ’60s – for the push he needed to exhibit.
“When I paint, I want to draw your attention – as soon as you walk into a room – I want to draw your attention to a painting, the essence of the painting,” Vasos says in closing.
“Whether a painting is good or bad or indifferent, that is irrelevant – it’s because I’ve drawn your eye to a painting – that’s the most fundamental thing. If you can create that strength then you’ve won the viewer.”
Vasos Tsesmelis’ Ned Kelly collection will be exhibited at Without Pier Gallery, 320 Bay Rd, Cheltenham, Vic from December 4-18. For more information visit www.vasosart.com