Bleepsgr (or Bleeps) is the pseudonym used by V.(M.) Kakouris, who is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

artist. He creates political street art,

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

s and installations;Helena Celdrán (7 July 2011)
"Aquiles también sale a protestar a las calles de Grecia"
20minutos.es. he is associated with the artivism movement. Much of his street art is in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, but his paintings are also to be found in other parts of Greece, and more widely in Europe.

History

Bleeps was born in

Peristeri Peristeri (Greek: Περιστέρι, meaning "pigeon/dove" in Greek) is a suburban municipality in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. With 139,981 inhabitants (2011 census), it is the seventh-largest municipality of Greece by ...

district, which is located in the West Bank of

circa 1980 and he grew up in a low - mid class environment. Bleeps started creating street art while he was in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, UK, between 2003 and 2005, where he became familiar with the local underground scene.

Style and themes

Most of Bleeps' street art projects derive elements from

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

and various past art movements, while the protagonists depicted are associated with Bleeps' interpretation of social life. His stated goal is to examine systemic figures such as religion, politics, monetary system and

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

Financial crisis

Since the beginning of the

Greek financial crisis Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis (Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that l ...

in 2008, Bleeps has been creating a series of works related to the crisis' impact on ordinary people and the lower middle class, globally and in his country, in the form of critical discourse.

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

Selected Media Publications

* International Herald Tribune, (The Global Edition of the New York Times), p. 1 (Cover Photo), p. 3 (Interview), 15–16 October 2011. * Financial Times DEUTSCHLAND, p. 28, 22 November 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleeps Pseudonymous artists Anti-consumerists Culture jamming Greek artists Conceptual art Street artists Greek graffiti artists Political artists Artists from Athens