MONKEY BANANA LOVE
Riso print on paper 
Limited edition
A3
2022
 
Banana and the Monkey: Gone Fishing is a series of riso printed queer zines and artworks created for the children of the future of any age and their cool parents by the cultural platform The Queer Archive. Story and characters are created by filmmaker/curator Konstantinos Menelaou and illustrations by artist George Kontos.

Banana and the Monkey are two unconventional characters that were created out of the need for simplicity in the chaotic world that we live in. Not taking their ability to function as human beings for granted and leaning towards a queer lifestyle, they become outcasts, representing the other, possible victims of oppression and injustice. However, their optimistic, positive energy and total indifference for what is perceived as normal are the qualities this project aims to nurture.

Konstantinos Menelaou and George Kontos started their conversation on the project in 2020 and in the process they discovered the multiple interpretations deriving from these two characters through different media. The zine was of primal interest aiming at inspiring inclusivity to a younger generation, while the artworks that were created from and inspired by the two characters and their universe present a more open and experimental approach to innocence and unapologetic existence.
 
About George Kontos

George Kontos is a film director and artist based in Athens Greece. In his works he pursues the aspects of the surreal and the absurd in a satirical manner. His films have been selected by animation and film festivals such as Animaze, Animasyros, Banjaluka, Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, International Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki and International Athens film festival. His latest animation short, Sevarambes, has received the IRIS Award for best Animation in 2021 from the Hellenic Film Academy and the Stavros Stasinos award for the best animation film in 2020 in Greece. Through his art practice he has produced work for solo and group exhibitions (New York, Miami, London, Los Angeles, Turin). He has an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts and he studied Architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.