ABOUT | giovannidefendis

ABOUT

I grew up in California in the central valley throughout Fresno and Kings County. Living near his grandparent’s vineyard had a profound lasting effect on myself and art. One of my earliest exposures to art was looking at mosaic murals made by his grandmother.

Although I’ve had an interest in the arts throughout his life; it was during my freshman year at Brigham Young University – Idaho that I formally pursued the arts. It was there that I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After graduation, I have exhibited throughout the United States and have traveled to various places to further my knowledge and skills in the visual arts including Japan, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, and Montana.

In 2016, I relocated to Clyde Park, Montana. Throughout my career and studies, I have gravitated towards artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Cy Twombly, Joyce Pensato, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Peter Voulkos, Furutani Michio, and Robert De Niro, Sr; to name a few.

Mark making, the gesture, Zen, wabi-sabi, and place have naturally been very important influences in my work. My work is often in flux with these elements and ideas as the piece reveals itself layer by layer; mark by mark. I often use a specific subject to help get started. Often times it is a place, such as a landscape or building. However, as the process moves forward the subject becomes less important. The interactions between the marks, shapes, composition, and colors are what I’m truly after.

“A painter does not have to invent new and original forms. The value of the painting rests entirely on the quality of feeling that is vested in it.” – Richard Diebenkorn c. 1956-59