Marios & Stephanie met each other on a hot summer day in 2018. They quickly built up a friendship, and friendship turned to love, that led to a wedding in 2019. Together they manage Christiania Art Gallery, that is located in the house they live in. Here Marios has his studio, where he paints in the winter, when it is to cold to paint outside. Stephanie has her office and workshop where she creates embroidery designs for her unique jackets. It also here they print everything from posters to magnet inserts.
Below you can watch a short documentary produced by Ian Macdonald.
Marios Orozco's Journey
The father of Marios Orozco
Marios Orozco was born in Ølgod, Denmark, but soon after his birth his family moved to Mykonos, Greece, where his parents had met, and had decided to live together with their newborn baby.
In Mykonos Marios learnt a lot about art from both his parents. His father, Luis Orozco, was a Mexican painter and an art teacher. So it was from Luis that Marios learnt about colors and how to use many different techniques when working with oil paint.
The Mother of Marios Orozco
Marios’s mother, Lilly Kristensen, was born in Denmark and grew up in a small town in Jutland. When she was a young adult she decided that she wanted to venture out from the farm she had grew up in to study art and design. She studied design in Copenhagen and London, and later went to study painting in Mykonos paint school in Greece. Here she met her teacher, Luis Orozco, and fell in love with both him and the island. Lilly also became a well-known artist for her collages made from wool and other fabrics.Â
Recently her artworks was on display in one of the museums in Mykonos.
From Musician And Producer…
When Marios was a young teenager he moved to The United States of America and was awarded a scholarship at The Boston Academy of Arts.
He moved to Christiania in 1981 when he was 19 years old.
Here he co-founded the funk band URD and got well known in the Danish music scene. Later he decided to take half of his home and rebuilt it into a music studio. That studio is what we know today as Christiania Art Gallery.
As a music producer he made music with a lot of different artists such as, J-ro, Tash and E Swift from Alkaholiks, George Cole, Andy Vargas (Santana), Warren G, Natasja, Karen Mukupa, Yukmouth, Nappion, Chin Ono, Kaka, Mike Rizzaw, MFS, Lukas Graham and many others.
… To Painter
In 2011 Marios Orozco started to paint again.
The interest for his artwork grew quickly and in 2017 – after he returned from California (he lived in San Fransisco part time for four years) – he rebuilt his music studio and turned it into Christiania Art Gallery starting by painting the facade of his house, the photogenic multi colored house we know today.
Christiania Art Gallery
Christiania Art Gallery is now a family owned gallery in the heart of Christiania. The colorful facade of Christiania Art Gallery is a landmark and one of the most photographed locations in Christiania.
The residents, Marios and Stephanie Orozco, exhibit, create their art and live in this location. They met in the summer of 2018 in front of South Pacific.
The house is originally called South Pacific and was given its name by the former resident Pancake Ray.Its not unusual to be invited to join the festivities in front of South Pacific. Often there will be live jazz music and BBQ during the sunny and warm summer days.
Christiania Art Gallery offers a full spectre of colors and some good laughs along the way.
We welcome you to Christiania Art Gallery.
