The featured artist of Forum Obscura issue 01, Jeorge Milonas is a Greek artist who’s had the pleasure of making graphics for his favorite band TOOL. From an interview Jeorge had with another publication I was able to find out that he started his art in 2002 on an experimental basis but in 2007 he thinks it really took off as he began work professionally. A large amount of the most recent art on Jeorge’s Instagram (jnk2007) features comic style or even tarot card-Esque depictions of mythological beasts and Gods/Goddesses in a display of muted colors and exceptionally simple yet lively detail work, one of which you can see on the cover of Issue 1 that we released earlier in the year.
We described the aesthetic choice of muted tones, but Jeorge also highlights the important details in his artistic depictions with bold colors like crimson red or electric blue to highlight the main focus of the pieces he puts out. For example, one of my favorites he’s done is “Gryps”, we see a well-detailed griffin but Jeorge commands these details in almost the same way a traditional tattoo artist does. Highlighting detail with negative space among muted tones of green and purple yet in the eyes, beak, and claws we see fiery tones that capture the depth and bold nature of the beast he’s brought to life. When we look closer at all of his artwork we really notice the immense talent he holds within himself and the level he holds his art to, just noticing that he’s able to capture the emotion and tone of a character just using 2 to 3 colors is a phenomenal feat that not many are capable of achieving.
While we love his simplistic mythological amalgamations that subtly boast technicality, Jeorge also does anatomical skeletons that are oftentimes distorted and combined with rays of vibrant color or sacred geometry, very TOOL-centric psychedelic art that shows us how Jeorge got started doing artwork for the monumental Rock band. A common symbol in the work done by Jeorge is the decagram or the 10 pointed star that intersects in every third point, the symbol relates to the kabbalistic tree of life in religious lore and brings forth a shocking depth to the skeletons having a spiritual experience in a few of the pieces he’s finished. Honing in on one specific picture of a skeleton breaking its back to look up to the sky in a rapture of flames overlaid on the Fibonacci spiral, from what we know about the tree of life is a representation of all life that’s ever existed we can assume the depicted skeleton is having a samsara moment or a reckoning of sorts as he downloads the genealogical experiences and historical code passed down from his long lost ancestors. Or – At least that’s what we got from the art and that’s what makes art so interesting… Taking your own path down the shaded wood of someone’s work is a journey, and it always ends differently. You can find Jeroge’s artwork on Instagram at Jnk2007, please lend this guy your support so we can see more thrilling artwork grace our vision.
