THE SOLO EXHIBITION by artist Stamatis Theoharis, titled ‘Viscera’, will be inaugurated at Alma Gallery on May 30 (and will run till June 29). Psychologist Constantina Sykara writes the following about this artist’s colourful dreamworlds:

“The journey into the dream world, a world of inner search and subconscious processes begins. In his works, Stamatis Theoharis, with his characteristic pop look and at the same time with clear references from art deco and art nouveau, opens the gates of a surreal universe that floats sometimes in the sky and sometimes in the sea. He composes images using male and female faces, naked bodies, symbols, animals with a desire to capture universal emotions that emerge ‘within’ us, in our relationship with significant others, but primarily in our relationship with ourselves. Fear, jealousy, forgiveness, love, wounds, salvation from our inner demons, but also the defences that make us fortify ourselves whenever we are confronted with the catalytic, total transformation brought about by love relationships. The games of domination, the idealization of the love object, and the battles we daily fight with ourselves and others are brought to life. The collection comprises a collage of experiences, captured in a fluid and constantly moving way. Movement towards liberation and truth.

Breaking down social stereotypes about gender identity and sexuality, from the boy with the earring and the naked male body wrapped in pearls, a favourite motif in the artist’s collections, to the boy with the bruised face and the axe, Stamatis brings to the fore the pleasures but also the wounds, the wounds caused by connection and human friction. Images full of provocative contrasts that challenge you to surrender to the senses but at the same time to reflect on your repressed desires and the limiting perceptions of human bonds but also the bonds that follow them.

Inwardness and eroticism are dominating the many levels of the composition reading. The leading colours are gold, blue and pink. Blue and pink for both sexes, floating on the golden background. The bright colours create a soft playful mood on one hand and on the other hand the gold adds a touch of grandeur.  A combination of feminine and masculine energy that is ambivalent. A sharp allegory between the changeful modern society and the anachronistic old age full of prejudice and propriety. The dancing movement on the bodies and the portraits wearing ‘halos’ put the viewer in a mystical, almost cult-like atmosphere. Renaissance paintings are crafted as if on a church altarpiece with masterful precision. Like a viewer’s meditation, he invites us like any other believer to ‘worship’ our passions to forgive our sins and redeem ourselves by surrendering to our fragile nature. A pilgrimage to the god of love and to the artist himself for the opportunity he gives us to confront our ‘inner’ sacred soul world, without social dictates and filters. Cleansing and purification.”

• Alma gallery is on Ipsilantou 24, Kolonaki, Athens, 10676. Tel 211 4003160. Open Tue – Thu – Fri
  11:00 – 20:00; Wed – Sat 11:00 – 15:00. For more, visit the site