SKIN FITS HEAVEN

In his new Thessaloniki solo show entitled “Skin Fits Heaven” Kostis Fokas presents a series of 22 photographs taken over the last 3 years. Furthering his core theme, the conceptual exploration of the human body, the artist composes scenes where the body provides fertile ground for all feelings, desires and identities.

Fokas deprives the bodies of predictable commercial poses thus affording them the liberty to express their physicality far from any stereotype. The moment that his camera captures the figures, a visual transformation takes place. The bodies effortlessly take on new forms and are casually transmuted into fragments, structures or landscapes to reveal their full potential both corporeally and aesthetically.

Free from clothes and faces, and the social connotations that they carry, the naked bodies expose their flesh accentuating not only their vulnerability but also their need for being free to constantly redefine themselves. Although the figures are acutely aware of their sexuality, they express it in a delicate, sensational and even playful way, far from being objectified. A physical intimacy runs through their skin and permeates the viewer.

Kostis Fokas (b.1979, Athens) lives and works currently in Athens, Greece.In 2007 he completed his studies in photography in FOCUS School of Photography and New Media, Athens, Greece. He has presented his work in 3 solo exhibitions in Athens and London and has participated in group shows in various venues including The Louvre Museum (2018), Colette Paris (2017), Art Basel Miami (2016), Benaki Museum (2019), Thessaloniki State Museum of Modern Art (2016), Contemporary Art Museum of Crete (2018). He has collaborated with numerous magazines worldwide such as Zeit Magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, i-D, Dazed and Confused, The advocate, Gay Times, Juxtapoz and Gayletter.