Aimilios Metaxas, born in Athens, Greece in 1999, started studying art academically during his high school years where he was mentored by a visual development artist from the Pixar and Walt Disney studios. He would later on win a scholarship to study at NABA:Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan where he studied from 2017 and graduating in 2020, earning a Bachelor's degree in Painting and Visual Arts. Between 2020-2022, during the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, Aimilios began to research other artistic fields which could be used to develop and inform his practice, in particular jewellery and fashion, where he was able to showcase his research and works in two solo and one group show in Athens once the lockdown restrictions were lifted. In 2023, Aimilios completed a MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in London.
Aimilios Metaxas
 In my practice I investigate how monetary value is created and distributed, what is real and what is made up, how images and materials are filled with symbolism bestowed to them, turning them into tools used to acquire power. Through my works I aim to break free from all the earthly chains people place on imagination and provide people with a safe space for their imagination to run wild. In my paintings, I explore my identity - not only as part of the lgbt+ community - but also as a foreigner living abroad wishing to explore deeper his ancestral culture and depict the impact different cultures had on me growing up in the age of social media.
2023
Medium:
Ink on canvasSize:
190x150cm
2023- Silk as a material resonates with me deeply as my last name in Greek means silk. My ancestors exported silk through the silk road from China to the Byzantine Empire and because of that I had a close relationship with silk growing up.
Medium:
Ink on silk, embroidered pearlsSize:
70x70cm
2023
Medium:
Ink on silkSize:
70x70cm
2023
Medium:
Ink on silkSize:
70x70cm
2023
Medium:
Ink on paperSize:
183x152cm
2023- Growing up in a conservative country, the colour pink was forbidden for boys to enjoy. That made me desire it more and as an adult I begun to question the reasons behind the decision of the adults to put gender labels onto colours. Through research I found out not only how pink came to be associated with the female gender but how at the beginning pink was the colour associated with the male gender, since pink is a shade of red, which represents strength.
Medium:
Ink and spray on canvasSize:
190x150cm
Inspired by Sofubi toys, art toys and anime figures I aim through this project to make my paintings come to life and be accessible for a wider audience of all ages, allowing them to physically interact with my work and create their own narrative.
2023/Series of 8
Medium:
Air dry clay, ResinSize:
9x9cm
2023 - As an early attempt to take an element of my paintings and turn it three dimensional, I begun to experiment with materials which have a strong association to power throughout history. In particular the incorporation of gemstones, silk and porcelain into my works allowed me to brake the two dimensional wall of the canvas and bring them forward into our space.
Medium:
Glazed porcelainSize:
15x8cm
2022 - Hypnos, the god of sleep, from Greek mythology and his twin brother Thanatos, the god of death, are often depicted with one wing on the side of their head,
adorned in this variation with silk and gemstones. They are often surrounded by
poppies, a soporific flower commonly associated with Hypnos, but which is also a main ingredient
of Opium, and subsequently associated with Thanatos as well. This painting symbolises the duality of life and death, even if are opposites they both share the same face.