The mismatched urban images of central Athens, where Konstantinos Markis was born and raised, remain to this day a source of inspiration and stimulus for his work.
The “safe option” of studying Political Science & International Relations at Panteion University was not a “siren song” strong enough to lure him away from his “Ithaca”.
That choice certainly gave him a more analytical way of thinking and broadened his intellectual horizons, but, wanting to escape the sterile environment of theoretical studies, he always found refuge in artistic expression, which in turn proclaimed its presence and its vitality loudly.
His elusive dream of becoming a set designer had by now become an urgent need.
Following that dream at last, he studied Graphic Design and Interior Decoration at the Doxiadis School and attended the set design course at the Athens School of Fine Arts, a full and creative period.
If we compare Life to a blank canvas, that of Konstantinos Markis had only just begun to receive its first brushstrokes. Since then, first as an assistant set designer and later as an Art Director, the “painting” has begun to take on character and personality.
A palette of theatre, film and television productions, events and promotional videos has made up a body of work that, even today, keeps seeking one more brushstroke to be complete.
A business trip to Italy turned into a stay of several months, and Konstantinos says it “filled his soul with extra colours and impressions”. It was in Milan, a city where everything declares itself Art and is Art, that the idea of founding the furniture-restoration company “FURNISSANCE” was born.
The power of vintage, combined with the culture of the one-off piece of modern art, come together to create an original, affordable and distinctly artistic choice.
Pieces of great sentimental value that sit “unnoticed” in a room can be transformed into true Works of Art, drawing every eye to them!
Grandma’s old chest of drawers is reborn as a showpiece worthy of the “MOMA”, and the lifeless chair from the children’s room takes the lead in the magical “Wonderland”…
Konstantinos Markis (markiskos@gmail.com) – facebook page – blog
Text editing: Manos Lianopoulos
