Sobre el Artista

Born in February 1945, Soteris (Sam) enjoyed a diverse, indulged childhood. His Greek immigrant father, a chocolatier, owned a cafe, “The Unique Chocolate Shoppe," a few blocks from the Niagara Falls. Sam and his family lived there until his father’s death. He was ten years old at the time.

In 1969 Sam earned BFA in Painting from the State University of New York at Buffalo.  During the early 1970’s Sam began experimenting with acrylics mixed with dry tempera. His painterly semi abstract images, conjured references to pop artists like Wayne Thiebaud. Sam exhibited extensively throughout New England and New York, receiving numerous awards. In 1977, Sam received an artist’s fellowship in drawing from the Massachusetts Arts & Humanities Foundation. Shortly afterward, Sam was hired to teach drawing at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. While living in Atlanta, Sam was represented at the Fay Gold gallery. In 1979, Sam was one of five artists chosen to participate in the prestigious invitational SevenArtists in Georgia exhibition at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art.   In the mid-80s, Sam found artistic inspiration from an illustration in Webster’s dictionary depicting hobo iconography, which inspired a series of “Hobo Icons,” paintings that moved his imagery firmly into the style of abstraction that carries through to his present work.  In a 1986 review in Art Forum International, Atlanta art critic, Glenn Harper (current editor of Sculpture Magazine) describes how Sam, “worked and reworked the signs he has taken from this code until they have become a vocabulary of his own.” During the 1990’s, Sam continued to exhibit in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Houston. The weak economy made it difficult to maintain sales. By necessity, Sam turned to finish carpentry for income, while continuing to work in his studio. For the next twenty-five years, his focus was providing for his family. Sam’s daughter, a photographer, wrote, “As visual artists my parents have dedicated their creative energy to their environment…The space inside our white Victorian house has evolved with us. As a result, I have grown up inside a work of art… ” His sons were also attracted to the arts; the eldest earned a degree in classical trombone. The youngest son, a sculptor, earned a BA Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Now retired, Sam focuses his energy in his studio and perennial gardens. The paintings, acrylic and powdered pigment are brash, audacious and uncompromising. His gardens, equally complex are accentuated with found art ‘dangles’ of brass tape, brass bells and chimes.