Biography
Phil Joanou is a Pasadena-based artist who specializes in figurative paintings that are essentially allegorical in nature. The product of extensive training, in institutions and with individual artists, Joanou possesses a master’s degree in painting from the New York Academy of Art. His technical skill is underscored by the largeness of his themes, which can concern the mythological. The artist’s use of allegory carries with it the responsibility of making the details of his suggested narratives very clear, something he does exceptionally well. For him, art has a purpose beyond mere reporting or active negation of human values; he looks to read the human condition as both chastening and full of wonder.
Joanou, who sees his art as being influenced by his experience with mass communications and psychology, the result of his experience in the advertising industry. His paintings are intuitive portraits of the complex psychological situations we so often find ourselves in; they read as essays in a style that incorporates elements both classical and contemporary, in a vocabulary that activates very old stories and makes them new again. This is difficult to do, but the artist achieves his aim in canvases that reflect his love of tradition and his awareness that tradition runs false if it dominates his sensibility. Joanou reminds us that expressionism is not moribund but merely underused, giving the artist the chance to connect with a past that genuinely supports him.
More of Joanou’s art can be seen at joanoufinearts.com.
By Jonathan Goodman
Writer/Editor – “Art in America”
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