A YEAR following the death of renowned painter Makis Theofylaktopoulos, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center presents the works created by the artist during the final years of his life. These works are oils on canvas, as well as works of mixed media – works in which we are once again stunned by Theofylaktopoulos’ personal style, which over time has developed into an increasingly dense and substantial search for the essence in his painting.

The significance of this exhibition is not only historical, given the years of collaboration between the artist and the gallery already since the early 1990s, but at the same time it regards the aesthetics and concerns of contemporary painting. His revolutionary and restless spirit pervades the works through his extraordinary use of drawing, colour and material. These reflect the artist’s ‘existential’ attitude towards life. As described by Denis Zacharopoulos in the curatorial text of the exhibition:

“If we attribute a mere attention to his last works today, it is because, beyond the recognizable style and the now undeniable quality of his work, they bring us face to face with a special relationship that occurs between the work of the artist and the artist himself as they progress simultaneously together. […] Through Theofylaktopoulos’ last works, it becomes evident that this existential tendency – already obvious in many of his previous works – constitutes an organic part of his quest and completes his ongoing preoccupation with the relationship between the inscription of a form and the significance of the surrounding space. The question of whether things come towards us or whether we go towards themis an integral part and concern of his work […] To what extent do we ourselves reach each other, or, on the contrary, do we gradually dissolve or sink into the space of one’sown presence/absence, seems to be the big question. Theofylaktopoulos addresses this question more and more often, either actively, by inscribing the gesture on the painting, or reflectively, by contemplating the vibrating space in which the form and us coexist.”

• The exhibition of Makis Theofylaktopoulos’ ‘Last Works’, runs till June 27 at Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, 48 Amartolon & Klefton St. Open Tues & Thurs 3-8pm, Wed & Fri 12-8pm, Sat 12-4pm. For more info visit the art center’s site