Gerasimos Floratos Discusses His Artistic Practice, Studio Work, and Upcoming Berlin Exhibition

Gerasimos Floratos, born in 1986, grew up and continues to live and work in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, near Times Square. He works in a basement studio he calls his 'concrete dungeon,' creating paintings with a frenetic style influenced by graffiti, cartoons, and personal symbols like rabbits, sneakers, and cigarettes. Floratos uses fat paint-sticks and hangs canvases loosely on irregular stretchers for a sculptural effect. He recently curated the group show 'Heavy Sauce' at Fountain House Gallery in Hell's Kitchen, featuring artists living with mental illness and inspired by a Lee Lozano quote. Floratos's background includes working at his family's deli and practicing capoeira from age eight to eighteen, which influences his physical approach to painting on large canvases on the floor. He avoids assistants, preferring to work alone to maintain creative control. Floratos is preparing a new solo exhibition, 'There's a sidewalk inside this gut,' at Tanya Leighton's gallery in Berlin, on view through 20 December 2019. He discusses his pragmatic views on money in art, emphasizing the need for artists to protect themselves financially. Floratos did not attend art school but built his career through community involvement and cold emails. The interview, conducted by Ross Simonini on Fire Island in late August 2019, marks Floratos's first published conversation.