TRR photo by Charlie Buterbaugh “Peasant Wedding,” an acrylic and pencil drawing by Ioannis Glykokokalos, is on display at the Central Park Gallery through June 10. (Click for larger image)

The light and dark selves of Ioannis

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

HONESDALE, PA — A series of paintings, drawings, subtle collage and often mixed media creations by Ioannis Glykokokalos, a resident artist of Honesdale known affectionately as Yanni, will be on display through June 10 at the Central Park Gallery.

Some of the pieces celebrate feminine beauty and an exuberant embrace of characters with an apparent musical backdrop. Others contrast with expressions of anxiety and distorted impressions of a mundane world.

While his paintings might create impressions of his subjects during mundane hours, Yanni’s varied use of color always finds palpable emotion.

“Digging deep into the subconscious is an oxymoron, but I try to find the different you’s. There is the good man, the screw-up, the religious, the mother, the husband and so on,” he said.

Yanni lived on the Lower East Side during the 1960s and worked beside Jackson Pollock, Betty Parsons and other abstract expressionists. He recalled listening to Dizzy Gillespie over a 50-cent beer.

“The whole culture there was fertile, but I had to drop out because I was paying too close attention and was ready to burst. When I lived in New York City, I was just a painter. Now, I am also a happy person,” he said.

During the opening reception on May 23, I asked Yanni about his studio. He invited me to drive him to his house, where I found a framing business, stacks of 40 years of work and a wide variety of plants in such places as an outdoor terrace garden.

“In order to write about an artist, you have to smell his kitchen,” he said.

Jerry Swendsen, owner of Central Park Gallery plans five or six other exhibits this summer.

“We are trying to give art a voice in the consciousness of our community,” he said.

The gallery, at 914 Church Street, is open from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. daily.

For more information call 570/253-5607.