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B I O G R A P H Y

California-born contemporary artist, vocalist, writer, photographer and surfer, Ithaka, began his immense body of sculpture work, The Reincarnation Of A Surfboard after accidentally breaking one of his own boards in half while surfing Southern California back in the late 1980’s, later restructuring and retexturing the destroyed board – recycling it into a piece of wall-hanging sculpture.

That first piece, as insignificant as it may have initially seemed, set in perpetual motion the project that would occupy huge amounts of Ithaka’s time for the next two decades (on four different continents) as he set out on a series of global residencies in pursuit of inspiration, waves and profound cultural experiences.

 

Ithaka’s early surfboard sculptures were simplistic, but strong in form and color, gradually evolving through the years in both complexity and texture. The finished pieces themselves do not have obvious surfing themes blurring the line of contemporary art and folk art, often incorporating clean minimalistic contours with metallic hues and easily found objects such as clothes pins, bottle caps, branches, etc.

Today, twenty five years – and more than two-hundred sculptures – later, he is still using broken and abused surfboards as his primary raw sculpture material.

 

Says Ithaka: “This work is about giving new life to the discarded. As far as inanimate objects go, a surfboard has one of the most privileged lifestyles of any manufactured item in the world.

Although they come into existence with a time consuming, messy and laborious birth, once they leave the factory or shop, they have no other purpose to fulfill but to provide aquatic companionship to their adventure-seeking proprietors; ride waves, bask in the sun and travel.

Whether they were owned by a beginner getting wet at a local beach break, owned by a  professional surfer voyaging by plane to distant exotic locations around the globe, or strapped to the roof of a soul-surfer’s van for road trips deep into Morocco or Mexico – these relatively simple fiberglass, foam and resin foils have provided near spiritual experiences to their users.

 

However, due to the lightness of materials and their fragile nature, an average surfboard’s life expectancy is between three months and three years. And broken or delaminated, with cracked fins or water-logged – they are inevitably retired out of the water and into the back of a garage or into the garbage, lacking even a modest funeral. But now, through a series of  resurrection rituals using saws, sandpaper, acrylic paint and ornamentation, these loyal friends of humanity have been brought back to life with new identities and a new purpose; to provide visual diversion. Nothing more, nothing less. These surfboards (now as wall-hanging sculptures) all have stories to tell. Long before they had been cut up and painted upon, they have been to places we haven’t been and seen things we haven’t seen – and done things most of us can only begin to understand.

 

Surfboards, and surfing in general, have been so good to me throughout my life. They have been the key to unlock the wonders of the ocean’s power, which has been to me a huge nucleus of inspiration, fun, health and cerebral balance – and have personally given me a life worth living.  I’ve been surfing since I was twelve years old and I still can’t sleep the night before a good swell. “And I’ve been doing this sculpture work since 1989 and I still love it. I’ll never get sick of it.”

The Reincarnation Of A Surfboard is a constantly growing, on-going series that has been exhibited in Europe, Asia, South America and the U.S. and featured in hundreds of magazines and television programs. In 2006, a documentary focusing on the life and process of the artist written and directed by Susanna Lira called “The Road To Ithaka” won the Best Script Award at the Brazilian FATU film festival in Sao Paulo.

 

Moving out of Southern California for the first time in 1991, Ithaka, first established himself in Japan, where during his year-long stay the first major exhibition of sculpture was hosted by Ginza’s Gallery YMA.

He then temporarily relocated to his ancestral homeland of Greece which proved to be an “immeasurable source of creative inspiration”, then on to Portugal, where in addition to doing exhibitions of his sculptures and photographs, he began writing and recording music. During the six years Ithaka resided in Portugal he recorded two albums, Flowers And The Color Of Paint and Stellafly – which were nominated for a total of nine Portuguese Grammy Awards, including both for Best Album.

After returning to Southern California for some years in the early 2000’s, where he recorded another album and did an exhibition at The International Surfing Museum, Ithaka once again set out away from the U.S. This time to Brazil, where he now lives during the majority of the year recording, writing and creating sculptures while continuing to maintain a residence in Caifornia.

 

Photographs of Ithaka’s sculptures have been featured in various books, including David Carson’s “The End Of Print” (published 2000-USA), “Belong” by Jennifer Morton (published 2004-Canada), and Robb Havassy’s “Surf Story”(published 2009-USA).

 

As a writer his ocean-related short stories and travel articles have appeared in the American magazines Transworld Surf, Surfer and Water – where his fiction column Fishdaddy Chronicles was considered one of the magazine’s highlights during its five-year run.

 

Songs from Ithaka’s five solo albums of melodic, travel-inspired, narrative hip hop music have been used in Hollywood feature films, an X-Box 360 game and have appeared in several surfing videos- including Timmy Turner’s, Second Thoughts, which won the 2004 Surfer Poll Award for Best Video.

 

“People sometimes think I am trying to do too many things, working too much. The key for me has been that I have never differentiated between work and play, any more that what art medium I am using on any given day. I enjoy every aspect of what I do, it never feels like work. I know I am privileged to be living this life.

I have been using these four forms of expression; sculpture, writing, music and photo simultaneously for a very long time now. It’s all familiar territory to me, yet I approach every project like it was the first. So in that respect, I feel more liberated to be creative. I’m not struggling against the mediums themselves. And I feel perpetually inspired because there is so little routine in my life. Every day is new.

“To me, completion as an artist is directly translating what is in your mind to however you are choosing to communicate the idea to others, regardless of what medium you are using, and hopefully not loosing anything in the process.”

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A L B U M S

2017_So Get Up & The Lost Acapellas

released by Sweatlodge Records [ 16 track vocal-only cd album]

2013 _ Voiceless Blue Raven

released by Sweatlodge Records [ 21 song instrumental  cd album ]

2011 _ Fishdaddy Flashbacks

released by Sweatlodge Records [ 15 song cd album ]

2007 _ Saltwater Nomad

released by Sweatlodge Records [ 13 song cd album ]

2005 _ Fuse With Me

released by Ground Zero Records [ cd single + remix of “N Portugal” by Ithaka vs. Cartell 70

2004 _ Recorded in Rio

released Sweatlodge Records [ 15 song cd album ]

2001 _ Somewhere South of Somalia

released by Sweatlodge Records/Khalifa Records [ 19 song cd album ]

2000 _ Stellafly: USA Edition

released by BCB Records [ 13 song cd album ]

1998 _ The Rise And Fall Of A Fortune

released by Nortesul/Valentim de Carvalho/EMI [ 8 song e.p. for European promotional use only ]

1997 _ Stellafly: European Edition

released by Nortesul/Valentim de Carvalho/EMI [ 17 song cd album ]

1997 _ Stay Strong Little Brother

released by Nortesul/Valentim de Carvalho/EMI [ cd single ]

1997 _ Seabra Is Mad

released by Nortesul/Valentim de Carvalho/EMI [ cd single with bonus track “Butterfly Of Wisdom” ]

1995 _ Flowers and the Color of Paint

released by Fabrica De Sons/Movieplay Records [ 13 song cd album ]

1995 _ Fishdaddy

released by Fabrica De Sons/Movieplay Records [ cd single released with Super Jovem Magazine ]

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G U E S T   M U S I C   &   A P P E A R A N C E S

2014_Cosmic Gate_”So Get Up”_Armada Records-Netherlands [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

2013 _ Cyncy _ “Sometimes Life Gets In The Way” _ Sweatlodge Records-USA _ [ Ithaka: music production ]

2011 _ Paul Mandaca _ “Eden by The Sea” _ cd album [ Ithaka: all lyrics ]

2011 _ Si Brad _ “20 Years” _ Toko Records-U.K. _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

2008 _ Pan Electric _ “Someone, Somewhere” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

2007 _ DJ Vibe _ “You” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

2005 _ Cartell 70 _ “In the Name of Religion” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

2000 _ Primitive Reason _ “The Day Will Come” + “I’m The Man Who Got No Plan” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1998 _ Mind Da Gap _ “Intro” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1998 _ More Republica Masonica _ “Grounded Song” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1998 _ Tejo Beat _ “The Day Was Hot” _ Produced by Mario Caldato, Jr. _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics]

1997 _ General D _ “Ekos Do Passado” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1996 _ Cool Hipnoise _ “Hidden By The Sea”” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1996 _ Red Beans _ “Sunny The Bunny” + “Sushi-Pack Subway” + excerpt from “Return To The City Of Angels” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1996 _ Marta Dias _ “Look To The Blue” + “Learn To Fly” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

1994 _ Underground Sound of Lisbon _ “So Get Up” _ [ Ithaka: vocals, lyrics ]

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E X H I B I T I O N S   &   E V E N T S   |   H A P P E N I N G S   &   A P P E A R A N C E S

2015 _ The “Aliens of AkahtiLândia” Event

at F+ Gallery [ California, USA ]

2014 _ The “Surfboards on Parade” Event

at Huntington Beach [ California, USA ]

2014 _ “Azores Wave Week” Festival

[ Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Portugal ]

2013 _ The Town Hall Events

at Hurley International Headquarters [ Costa Mesa, California, USA ]

2013 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at McNamara’s Gallery [ Nazaré, Portugal ]

2013 _ “Sagres Surf Culture” Festival

[ Sagres, Portugal ]

2012 _ “Ithaka the 2012 Event”

at WOA|Way of Arts Gallery [ Cascais, Portugal ]

2011 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at Nike Posto 5.0 [ Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ]

2010 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at “The Camp” [ Costa Mesa, California, USA ]

2010 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at “Oca do Ibirapuera” [ São Paulo, Brazil ]

2010 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at “Alma do Mar” Gallery [ São Paulo, Brazil ]

2008 _ The “Clash” Event

[ Lisbon, Portugal ]

2007 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at “Oca do Ibirapuera” [ São Paulo, Brazil ]

2007 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at WOA|Way of Arts Gallery [ Estoril, Portugal ]

2006 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at MIS – São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound [ São Paulo, Brazil ]

2005 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at MIS – São Paulo Museum of Image and Sound [ São Paulo, Brazil ]

2003 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at “111 Minna” Gallery [ San Francisco, California, USA ]

2000 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at the “International Surfing Museum” [ Huntington Beach, California, USA ]

1999 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at the “Photo Impact” Gallery [ LA, California, USA ]

1998 _ “Quality_Time: Part One”

at “Zé dos Bois” Gallery [ Lisbon, Portugal ]

1996 _ The “UMBILICUS” Exhibition

at IPJ: Instituto Portuguesa da Juventude [ Lisbon, Portugal ]

1995 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at the “Moderna University” [ Lisbon, Portugal ]

1992 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at YMA Gallery [ Tokyo, Japan ]

1992 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at NICAF – Nippon International Contemporary Art Fair [ Yokohama, Japan ]

1990 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at “01 Gallery” [ LA, California, USA ]

1990 _ Solo Exhibition & Event

at Pepperdine University [ LA, California, USA ]

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S H O R T   S T O R I E S   P U B L I C A T I O N S

2010 _ “Return to the Motherland”
Published in The Surfer’s Journal, Surf Portugal magazine, Fluir magazine, and Goodtimes magazine.

2010 _ “Fernando de Noronha”
“A clumsy name for a spectacular speck on the map” Transworld Surf magazine [ USA ].

2010 _ “Miracle at Malibu”
Published in Surf Story book [ compiled by Robb Havassy ].

2007 _ “Moema”
Published in Water magazine.

2007 _ “Morocco is:”
Published in Water magazine.

2007 _ “Dos Cães”
Published in ONFIRE Surf magazine, International Surf magazine, and Water magazine.

2007 _ “Oxygen Falls”
Published in Water magazine.

2006 _ “Palm Tree Reef”
Published in Water magazine.

2006 _ “Moments of Insanity”
Published in Water magazine.

2003 _ “Stilts”
Published in Water magazine.

2003 _ “Adventures in Advertising”
Published in Water magazine.

2003 _ “The Forgotten Flour”
Published in Water magazine.

2000 _ “Carcavelos Browns”
Published in Surfer magazine, and Wavelength magazine.

1993 _ “Stellafly”
Published in Shortcut magazine, and Lava magazine.