Affordable Art Fair NYC Spring 2025 with Artios Gallery

I am pleased to announce my participation at the Affordable Art Fair with Artios Gallery this Spring March 20 - 23 in NYC. I will be in attendance at the fair March 20 - 23. Stop by Stand A1, I’d love to see you!

Below are new works that will be available at the fair in addition to a range of original works on paper.

To RSVP click the link here and the link below to view a catalog of the available works.

For inquiries contact info@artiosgallery.com.

“Flowers for Lolita”, Oil on Canvas, 24” X 36”

“Primavera Portrait No. 1”, Gouache on Paper, 14” X 11”

“Primavera Portrait No. 3”, Gouache on Paper, 14” X 11”

“Primavera Portrait No. 2”, Gouache on Paper, 14” X 11”

 

Rites of the Earth Exhibit // Artist Talk

I recently curated the group exhibit “Rites of the Earth” at the Bank Building Studios & Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina. The exhibit features the work of myself alongside, Greenville-based artist Jess Stone and Toronto-based artist Heidi Keyes.

Check out this segment from our recent artist talk where I speak about the process behind my new series of works titled “Tempest” and the connection to water. And check out the link below to view the full artist talk.

Working with the canvas flat on a table or on the floor, I pour water onto the canvas directly from a jar. Blending with dense layers of textured acrylic paint and more translucent washes of ink and acrylic, the water becomes a medium, the jar a tool, like paint on the brush, I apply water with intention and allow myself to surrender to its movement and shape. This process becomes a “rite”, a “ceremony”, a cleansing as well as a release, exploring my connection with the Earth in ways that may evoke both calamity or calm. 

In these paintings, I'm having a dialogue with German Romantic landscape painting, the artist facing the landscape, experiencing the sublime, both beauty and terror in the same moment. When in Italy, I remember seeing a small jar the ancient Romans carried around their necks to catch tears that would fall. I make the connection with the jar pouring water onto the canvas to the small tear jars from Ancient times. I'm exploring water and it's connection to the body, the water pouring from the jar onto the canvas becomes a metaphor, tears from myself, the Earth, the sea, the rain, the rivers, the atmosphere itself.

I invite the viewer into the dance, an internalization of the pulses that lie beneath the Earth, inside of the Earth, becoming us, coming through us.

-Fotini Christophillis, 2024

Segment from “Rites of the Earth” Artist Talk featuring the work of Fotini Christophillis, Heidi Keyes and Jess Stone at the Bank Building Studio and Gallery in Greenville, South Carolina.

 

Bridge City Views opens at the Greenville Theatre

I’m pleased to announce my solo exhibition at the Greenville Theatre, Bridge City Views.

Join me for an opening reception Thursday, March 14 from 6 - 9 pm.

Bridge City Views features a collection of original paintings on canvas, works on paper, and limited edition giclee prints. The exhibition features work created since 2020 to the present, when I returned to my hometown of Greenville, South Carolina during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020.

I was living in New York City at the time of the pandemic where I was pursuing my career as a fine artist after receiving my MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Art at Tufts University in Boston, MA. I was living in downtown Manhattan when the pandemic hit and when reality of the severity of the lockdown became clear, the uncertainty of the effects of the unknown virus, and other unrest and crisis unraveling in our country, I made a quick decision to leave NYC and fly back to Greenville with one suitcase.

I brought with me the art supplies I could take under the circumstances which included a pad of mixed media paper, a small set of gouache paint, and a few brushes. When I arrived in Greenville, there was an overwhelming panic around the world as everything closed, lives abruptly changed, and what was unthinkable in our lifetime, a global pandemic, was unfolding for all of us.

As a respite from the anxiety, the unknown and the crisis unfolding, I frequently took long walks around the Greenville area, in parks, downtown, my childhood neighborhood, the state parks surrounding the area and was struck by the natural beauty around me. I captured this beauty in a series of floral works on paper and titled the series, “Springtime is Happening”. The spirit of art, the beautiful colors and life of springtime in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains not only kept me going through the pandemic, helped me to keep my drive and motivation intact, but inspired me in new and unexpected ways, allowing a sense of joy to emerge, as I began to feel alive with happiness, gratitude, and hope.

The new work and new unexpected turn of circumstances prompted me to stay in Greenville. I eventually moved my studio back to my hometown where I have been living and painting since. Once moving my studio back to Greenville, I began a series of works on canvas inspired by the vibrant city of Greenville, which has changed, grown, and evolved into what feels like a new city since I once lived here years ago in my youth.

This connection to “place” became the focus of my work. Greenville was not just the small town from a distant memory, but a growing metropolis with fresh color and energy. I seek to explore this connection in my paintings, a place I call home all over again, and in doing so, bring to my viewer a sense of joy and sensual pleasure of color.

The Greenville Theatre being Greenville’s oldest theatre is inextricably intertwined with the fabric and pulse of Greenville. It is appropriate to present this collection of works in the beautiful interior of this theatre, full of history, energy, and the community foundation that keeps the stories of this city alive.

The exhibition fills the lobby walls with color and life as we all seek to rebuild our cultural identity and sense of place after the long pandemic years. These times have affected all of us in one way or another and have shaped our sense of place and community in ways that we continue to understand.

All works are available for purchase by contacting fotinipaintings@gmail.com.

 

Career Chat Interview

It was a pleasure to speak with librarian Shannon Crooks of the Prince George County Memorial Library System in Maryland about my journey and career as an artist. The interview is part of their Career Chat series exploring a variety of career professions to provide information and learning about a range of career paths to young students.

Read More

Renewal Exhibit

2020 was a whirlwind, but it’s almost over and I feel beautiful things on the horizon. The group exhibition Renewal explores the fresh uplifting essence of a new beginning. Seasons change, and so do we as we embrace the open space of what is yet to emerge. A new year can be symbolic of a new start, the clear vision to begin again and imagine the world as we hope to see it, as simple of joys unfold.

Read More

Quarantine Diaries @ The Hickory Playground

07 Christophillis_Work Space.jpg

I am delighted to have my work featured in the interdisciplinary arts project, “The Quarantine Diaries”, at the Hickory Playground.

Check out the work here!

The Hickory Playground invited artists of all disciplines from all around the world to submit work created during quarantine to be presented in a virtual collection of diary entries. The initiative aims to provide a platform for artists to present their work as we all strive to stay inspired in these uncertain and challenging times.

 

Springtime is Happening

Reluctantly, I left my apartment in the lovely Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan mid-March to seek shelter in my hometown of Greenville, SC. I was filled with anxiety amidst the turn of events in this global pandemic. My normal tendency is to fight through anything, never give up no matter what, but the feeling I had the day the city started to shut down was unlike anything I’ve experienced before. I never imagined that the city that never sleeps would go dark.

Read More