ABOUT THE ARTIST
Christos Calivas, a self taught painter, works in Maine and spends part of his time in Greece and Key West. Calivas has studied painting with George Carpenter of Ogunquit, Maine, and Jeremy Foss, Professor Emeritus of Painting, Massachusetts College of Art.
In addition to being a full time artist, he is also an avid sailor, a licensed Merchant Marine Captain, holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, and is a musician with an interest in Middle Eastern, Armenian and Greek Music.
Christos brings to his painting the richness of all these experiences, which for him is an expression of the world he loves. His passion for sailing and the outdoor world is reflected in his subject matter, often encompassing waterfront wharfs and vessels, local architecture, the sky and water in its infinite variations of color and light. Many of his paintings are inspired by his surroundings in Maine, Greece and Key West.
Calivas’ paintings are an exploration of the spectrum between realism and abstraction. Speaking about this element of his work he has said: “In my painting, I always consider the creative tension between the abstract elements the canvas and my immediate, intense response to the landscapes before me. Over the years I have become increasingly aware of the danger of creating pleasing but emptied-out shapes that may have decorative strength but can become too far removed from my original source and inspiration.
As I advance in both directions, my emotional and aesthetic response to a particular place is now tightly joined to the colors, abstract shapes and forms I quickly find within that scene. My objective is to create paintings that are strong and convincing aesthetically while still conveying an intensely felt sense of place”
Exhibiting his work both locally and nationally, Calivas’ gallery representation includes: Gingerbread Square Gallery, Key West, Florida; Soprafina Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts; The Barn Gallery, Ogunquit, Maine; Mast Cove Gallery, Kennebunkport, Maine; and Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, New Hampshire.
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO EXHIBITS:
2011 Paintings of Greece, Mariposa Museum, Peterborough, NH
2010 Greece: A Journey Home, McCoy Gallery, Merrimack College, N. Andover, MA
2008 Recent Paintings, Soprafina Gallery, Boston, MA
2006 Christos Calivas: Recent Paintings, Family Tree Fine Arts, Portsmouth, NH
2004 Christos Calivas: Landscapes, The New Hampton School, New Hampton, NH
Christos Calivas: Paintings, York Public Library, York, ME
2003 Reductive Landscapes, The Hay Gallery, Portland, ME
2001 Christos Calivas: Landscapes, Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, NH
1999 Recent Paintings, Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
RECENT SMALL GROUP AND JURIED EXHIBITS:
2011 Gingerbread Square Gallery, Key West
2010 The Barn Gallery, Annual Juried Show, Ogunquit, ME
Mast Cove Gallery, Artist Choice, Kennebunkport, ME
2009 Soprafina Gallery, Boston, MA
Mast Cove Gallery, Kennebunkport, ME
2008 Outdoors, Lucky Street Gallery, Key West
The Barn Gallery, Ogunquit, ME
Hawthorne Gallery, Anniversary Show, Birmingham, AL
Family Tree Fine Arts, Macro-Micro, Portsmouth, NH
Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Soprafina Gallery, Boston
Bluestocking Studios, The Miniature Show, York Beach, ME
2007 Hawthorne Gallery, Anniversary Show, Birmingham, AL
George Marshall Store Gallery, York, ME
Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2006 Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, NH
Polonaise Gallery, Woodstock, VT
2005 The Hay Gallery, Steamboat Springs, CO
Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, NH
The Clown Gallery, Landscape Invitational, Portland, ME
University of Southern Maine, Celebrating Maine Artists, ME
The Barn Gallery, Ogunquit, Maine
Bluestocking Studios, York Beach, ME
2004 Nahcotta Gallery, Landscape Show, Portsmouth, NH
MPG Contemporary, Boston (two person show)
The Barn gallery, Annual Juried Show, Ogunquit, ME
Mast Cove Gallery, Kennebunkport, ME
The Hay Gallery, Portland, ME
Sanctuary Arts, Eliot, ME
Heartwood College of Arts, Kennebunk, ME
Kittery Art Association Invitational, Kittery Point, Maine
2003 The Currier Museum of Art, 55th Annual Exhibit, Manchester, NH
University of Southern Maine Gallery, Portland, ME
The Barn Gallery, Open Juried Show, Ogunquit, Maine
2002 MPG Contemporary, Boston
Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, NH
The Currier Museum of Art, 54th Annual Exhibit, Manchester, NH
Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, Dunfey Exhibit, Portsmouth, NH
Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, Lassonde Exhibit, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
2001 George Marshall Store Gallery, River Currents, York, ME
Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Boats, Concord, NH
The Currier Museum of Art, 53rd Annual Exhibit, Manchester, NH
Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA
The Barn Gallery, Ogunquit, ME
Mast Cove Gallery, Kennebunkport, ME
2000 The Currier Museum of Art, 52nd Annual Exhibit, Manchester, NH
100 Market Street Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, Lassonde Exhibit, Portsmouth, NH
The Cliff House, Springtide 2000, Cape Neddick, ME
Prescott Park Arts Festival, Portsmouth, NH
1999 League of New Hampshire Craftsman, Concord, NH
The Currier Museum of Art, 51st Annual Exhibit, Manchester, NH
Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery, Lassonde Exhibit, Portsmouth, NH
Prescott Park Arts Festival, Portsmouth, NH
AWARDS
The Rosmond DeKalb Memorial Award, The 55th Annual Exhibit
The Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
PUBLICATIONS
Bodwell, Joshua, "A Marriage in the Arts", York County Coast Star, May 2009
Blair, Joel, "3 Abstract Artists in Three Media", Solares Hill, Key West April 2008
O'Neal, Rob, "Calivas, Bernard at Lucky Street", Paradise, KW Citizen April 2008
McCartin, Jeanne', "Taking Control of his Life", Portsmouth Press Herald, May 2006
Nudleman, Stuart, "Christos Calivas: Artist Profile", York County Coast Star, March 2003
Callahan, Sharon, "Christos Calivas: Artist and Painter" The Advocate, December 2001
Cover Art, "Environmental Law Issue", New Hampshire Bar Journal, December 2001
Craig, Steve, "Divergent Dover Artists: Davis & Calivas", Foster's Daily Democrat, Feb 2000
Cover Art, "Environmental Law Issue", New Hampshire Bar Journal, March 2000
COLLECTIONS
State Street Bank Europe Ltd, London
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Boston
Thornton, Earley & Naumes, Boston
Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, Nh
Orr & Reno, Concord, Nh
Seacoast Property Management Company, Dover, Nh
McNeil, Taylor & Gallo, Dover, Nh
Collection of Robert Stone, author, Key West
Collection of Loukas Pilitsis, London and Athens, Greece
Collection of Rufus T Woodard III, Boston
Current Exhibition
2011- 2012
Previous Exhibitions
2010 - 2011
