sonke


biography
Sonke was born and raised in Athens, Greece. His passion for art started at an early age. In 1988, when he was just four years old, he found immense pleasure in painting and drawing, and grew up knowing he wanted to be an artist. At the age of 12, he started exploring graffiti, painting walls in his
Athens neighbourhood, trying to leave his mark on the world. He studied graphics, applied and fine arts, attended a wide range of seminars and courses worldwide. After a few years, he started working as an art teacher at the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Maroussi, Attica.
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At first, Sonke preferred to sketch cartoon themes or just leave his tag on the walls. Later on, he started painting more concrete themes like flowers or square headed little people influenced by cubism. Finally, inspired by love, he found his favourite and most recognized painting style, with the famous curvy girls with big eyes and long curly hair made of spirals as a main theme. His lines are clean, almost naïve, with black and white contrasts combined with minimal chromatic interference. Sonke travels often to express his restless and unconventional spirit through his art.
As an almost archetypical urban Neo Pop street artist, his graffiti may be seen on walls in Athens, Paris, Berlin, Brussels or Sydney.
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However, Sonke also experiments with other styles and materials, and his work includes collages, canvas paintings, mixed techniques and sculptures. He tries to convey the meaning of love, but also takes up other themes with strong social and political messages against the massive culture of hollow
luxury, political corruption and violence.
Ηe has participated in various solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad (France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, America, etc.). His works have been seen by thousands of people, causing a sensation and resulting in widespread publicity. Nowadays, many of his works are owned by private collectors and galleries worldwide.
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The artist currently divides his time between Athens and Brussels.
Selected exhibitions
Solo exhibitions:
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2015 The City is Sleeping/Η πÏŒλη κοιμάται, Babel Art Space, Athens (Greece)
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2013 Love & Death, Gallery Sarri 12, Athens (Greece)
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2012 Sonke in Paris, Paris (France); Dark Days, Athens (Greece)
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2011 Summer is For Lovers, Paros (Greece)
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2010 Poor Lovers, Hoxton, Athens (Greece)
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Group exhibitions:
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2015:
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"From the students for the students", Ornerakis School of Art, Athens (Greece)
National Helenic Museum, New York (USA)
Fresko Exhibition; Gallery Sarri 12, Athens (Greece)
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2014:
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1984 Exhibition with Dimitris Ntokos, Tassos Bouras, Tio Ilar 2014, Athens (Greece)
Gallery Nadege de Bryas, Paris (France)
International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Istanbul (Turkey)
Red Cross Exhibition, Paris (France)
2013:
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Gallery Potnia Thiron, Athens (Greece)
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Cash, Cans and Candies, Hilger Gallery, Vienna (Austria)
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Tio Ilar 2013, Athens (Greece)
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2012:
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Silence is Violence, Brussels (Belgium)
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Produckt, Antwerpen (Belgium)
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Tio Ilar 2012, Athens (Greece)
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Art is Hard, Athens (Greece)
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Instruction Campen Gallery, Malgashot (Italy)
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Collingwood Gallery (Australia)
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2011:
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Urban Stroke Art Fair, Munich (Germany)
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Group- in-Fusion, Supervision: Michael Anderson, Theofrastos Charitos and Marianna Pannagiotoudi, Athens (Greece)
Art Athina, International Modern Art Meeting, Athens (Greece)
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Bilbao, Gallery Stigma, Athens (Greece)
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Alex in Wonderland, Gallery Cube, Patras (Greece)
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Indeep Festival, Athens (Greece)
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Design Lab, Technopolis, Athens (Greece)
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2010:
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7ply Exhibition, Technopolis, Athens (Greece)
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2009:
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7ply Exhibition, Technopolis, Athens (Greece)