George Tillianakis is many things all at once: video artist, composer, musician, performer, curator, collaborator, educator, facilitator. Despite the collaborative energy vital to these pursuits, he is fiercely independent. A lone wolf with a singular vision, his vast output as an artist over the last two decades has a clear-eyed coherence, oscillating from a cocky fuck-you attitude – “because that’s how I was raised” – to shoegaze introspection and vulnerability. The title of one of his recent album, Heavy Petal, 2021, sums it up to a tee.
A graduate of the long-defunct art school at Western Sydney University, the Blacktown born and bred artist found a platform for the angst of growing up Greek-and-gay in a mostly hostile “westie” suburban setting. When lecturer and mentor, the late Debra Porch, told…