cacao rocks
biography
Cacao Rocks was born in Athens, Greece, in 1985. He grew up near the harbour of Piraeus, raised by a French mother and a Greek father. When he was at the age of 12, he moved to the island of Corfu where he spent his adolescence.
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Back in 1999, hip hop, skateboard culture and the surroundings of the island had an influence on him and led him to discover his passion for arts. He started experimenting with graffiti and participated in a contest held by Greenpeace, for which he won the first prize. From that moment on until 2003 he was devoted to this form of art and created numerous graffiti pieces and letterings.
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In 2004, he moved back to study French literature at the Philosophy School of Athens. He decided to make a pause in the public space and instead created sculptures made of polyurethane, wool, wood and found objects.
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An Interrail trip around Europe reinvigorated his passion for urban art. Inspired by the European scene and acquaintances across the continent, he returned to the streets. However, a lack of resources led him to change his approach. Instead of spray paints and fixers, duct tape and neglected objects became the basis of his installations and sculptures. A new facette of his talent surfaced in 2009, when a camera gifted by someone very close tom him led him to experiment with video art.
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One of the video projects was rewarded at the national film festival Shoot It in 2011, winning the first prize in video and photography and granting Cacao a scholarship at the Focus Athens School of Art and Photography. Finding himself in a very productive period, he picked up the spray can again and created multiple pieces in Athens. At the same time he authored a blog in which he published a drawing every day.
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Cacao has not only exhibited his work in renowned galleries and museums in Athens (such as Benaki Museum or the Onassis Art Foundation) but is also becoming more and more known in the International scene, with contributions to exhibitions in the US, the UK and Italy. He is also a frequent contributor to Street art and graffiti festivals in Greece and beyond.
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Furthermore, international media such as such as The New York Times, Reuters, The Huffington Post, French tv chanel France 3 and German tv Das Erste showed a keen interest in his work.
Cacao Rocks lives and works in Athens, Greece.
Selected exhibitions
2015 Art Athina, Widmer Theodoridis Gallery, Athens, Greece
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2015 The Street Is My Gallery, National Hellenic Museum, Chicago, USA
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2015 Street Art Is Here To Stay, Aenaon Gallery, Athens, Greece
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2015 The Expanded Field Art Exhibition, Asylum Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, UK
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2014 Like New, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
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2014 Issalos Grammi, Pontoporos Gallery, Paros, Greece
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2014 Zadig (collaboration with this is Opium), Sarri 12 Gallery, Athens, Greece
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2014 No Respect, Onassis Foundation SGT, Athens, Greece
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2014 Poster Bike Art Exhibition, Romantso, Athens, Greece
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2014 Mi Amor Por Ti Es Meravilloso, Anti Heart, Monterrey, Mexico
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2013 Stop And Stare, Sarri 12 Gallery, Athens, Greece
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2013 Remap KM 4, Remap 4, Athens, Greece
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2013 Feta Yo, 5th International Gallery, Wolverhampton, UK
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2013 Bike Art, Technopolis, Athens, Greece
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2013 In Wall We Trust, Parcheggio Comunale, Airola, Italy
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2013 Tetrapolis, Art S.A. Gallery, Kea, Greece
2013 Perspectives on the Contemporary Greek Scene, Saint-Gervais Theatre, Geneva, Switzerland
2013 Art4More, Vrysaki, Athens, Greece
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2013 Urban Lovers, Romantso, Athens, Greece
2013 Art Athina, Stigma Lab Project Space, Athens, Greece
2012 Zootrope, Contemporary Art Meeting Point, Athens, Greece
2012 Trash Art, Bios, Athens, Greece
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2012 Graphic Novels Are True, K-ART Gallery, Athens, Greece
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2012 A4M, Box Gallery, Salonica, Greece
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2012 Colored, Free Thinking Zone, Athens, Greece
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2011 7ply Project, Technopolis, Athens, Greece
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2010 Energy Athens, European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, Athens, Greece
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2009 DogMart, Art House, Athens, Greece