BIOGRAPHY
Neocles Serafimidis (b. 1962, Fresno CA)
Neo Serafimidis was born in Fresno, CA, and graduated from CSU Fresno with a B.A. in philosophy. While attending CSUF, Neo studied art theory with American artist Charles Gaines, and the philosophy of art in the philosophy department. During this time his primary artistic work was in electronic and experimental music, and performance art. He founded the group Synesthesia Works, which produced a number of recordings, theater scores, performances and installations. These works often included photography for projection in theater and installation works. Neo attended graduate school at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he received a PhD in philosophy. Neo took up photography in earnest after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 2000's.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
Much of my recent work has focused on photographing recognizably old objects such as automobiles, houses, and other artifacts from jewelry to ephemera. On the surface, this appears as something trite, a shallow nostalgia. I have come, however, to understand nostalgia in a way that is closer to its original meaning as a painful longing for home so deep it is an illness. And I have come to appreciate the powerful psychology of loss. As possessions age, they take on layers of meaning. And with that, they accrue a certain psychological power. I see these artifacts as our culture's power objects, which develop slowly over time both in individuals' personal experience and in public, inter-subjective reality.
The personal dimension is exemplified by the emotional attachment that a person may have for a long-held personal possession or family heirloom. Often, the artifact is a reminder of another person, a loved one, or perhaps an earlier self, or a happier time. In this sense, a very personal relation exists between viewer and artifact. In the realm of inter-subjective reality, stylized objects recognizable by many point to shared experience and provide a basis for tribal identity, and a collective emotional response to a changing world. The realms intersect, such as when an observer at an estate sale views an object (or in an art gallery views a representation of an object) that while unfamiliar, is immediately recognizable as an instance of a kind, and as an object imbued with meaning for someone somewhere. And with that recognition, the meaning, or at least a poetic variant, is communicated to the viewer. It is this transmission of poetic meaning to the viewer that I would hope to achieve in my work in this area.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
University of Washington, PhD, Philosophy, 2003
University of Washington, MA, Philosophy, 1995
California State University, Fresno, BA, Philosophy, 1988
University of Washington, MA, Philosophy, 1995
California State University, Fresno, BA, Philosophy, 1988
Exhibitions
2020 Solo exhibition, "Neighborhood Nights", Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland CA
2019 Solo exhibition, "Object/Memory (Power)", Mercury 20 Galley, Oakland, CA
2018 Group exhibition, "Seeing Red", Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland, CA
2017 Group exhibition, "Into the Light", Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland, CA
2017 Group exhibition, "Digital Art: The Power of the Pixel", Art Passages, Berkeley, CA
2015 Group exhibition, Berkeley Camera Club, YWCA, Berkeley, CA
2011 Solo exhibition, Chop Salon, Berkeley, CA
2010 Group exhibition, "Oakland Lost and Found", Woody's Cafe, Oakland, CA
2009 Group exhibition, "The Vintage Eye", Fingado Gallery, El Cerrito, CA