Inside the Studio
Simis Gatenio
Favorite material to work with?
Acrylic, ink, and pencil.
How many years as an artist?
Twelve.
What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
To work.
Where is your studio?
In the center of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Art school or self-taught?
Art School
Prefer to work with music or in silence?
With music.
What’s around the corner from your place?
Shops and noise.
If you couldn’t be an artist, what would you do?
I would be a chef.
Day job?
I have a gallery with antiques my artworks and artworks of other artists.
What do you collect?
Art.
Favorite contemporary artist?
Leonardo da Vinci (humor).
If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
Max Ernst, The Temptation of St. Anthony.
Use anything other than paint?
I use acrylics, ink and graphite for my paints. Also photography and new media.
Who are your favorite writers?
Jorge Luis Borges, Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Is painting dead?
For sure not. Paint is a need. It is a part of the human nature.
