“MY SOUL is often a back street on Mykonos when night begins to fall”, wrote Surrealist artist/poet Nikos Engonopoulos back in 1939. I imagine those back streets were pretty quiet in those days, and nothing like they are today, since Mykonos became Greece’s party island par excellence. But this island does have an arty side … Continue reading
‘Art Scene Athens’ talks to artist Lila Papoula about her exhibition ‘Walls that were hiding our faces’, at the Evripides Gallery, which runs till December 9: IN THE EIGHTIES, artist Lila Papoula searched the streets for derelict walls, which she photographed. She was drawn to these remaining fragments of people’s lives, not only because of … Continue reading
‘Art Scene Athens’ talks to artist Maria Hadjiandreou about her new exhibition entitled ‘The Gaze’, at Gallery 7, in which the artist not only captures the character of her sitters but also searches deep into their psyche: MARIA Hadjiandreou’s work of the last two years are portraits inspired by the artist’s heightened sensibility. Whilst perusing … Continue reading
POETRY AND ART join forces in an outstanding exhibition at the B&M Theocharakis Foundation, which pays homage to Greek poet and Nobel Laureate George Seferis. The exhibition entitled ‘When the light dances, I speak farely. George Seferis and his poetry via painting and photography’, will be inaugurated on November 8 by the President of … Continue reading
SPYROS KOTSALAS captures the raw, bold beauty of the Greek landscape and the nonchalant, everyday details of Athenian life. His oil paintings are odes to the quintessential colour harmonies of Greece, while his small gouache portraits capture the essence of the character of his sitters – the angles and contours of their features sculpturally rendered. … Continue reading
Happy May 1st to everyone – the day we celebrate with flowers. Here are some I painted years ago at Kew Gardens, where an ancient Greek temple-inspired pavilion lies hidden in the trees. Here in Greece, the weather is very summery at the moment and people have even started swimming, so the flowers won’t be … Continue reading
ACCLAIMED artist Christos Bokoros has described himself as ‘serving an ancient iconolatric tradition’. In fact he does this with such clarity and verisimilitude in his paintings, with such perfectionism and emphasis on detail, that the results are awe-inspiring. But in contrast with the intricacy and complexity of his mastery of representational painting – creating a … Continue reading
AS THE GREEK and international art world revs up for documenta 14 (April 8-July 16 in Athens, June 10-September 17 in Kassel), Athens puts on its best: So much will be happening around town that it’s a bit like the Olympics again, only this time for art – the ‘Art Olympics’. Cultural institutions and galleries … Continue reading
MARCH HAS certainly started with artistic discourse, as seen with the Guerrilla Girl’s talk at the Onassis Cultural Centre on Thursday, March 9. (But it continues with plenty more, as you will read about later on). But first up, let’s do a quick resume of some of the key aspects of the Guerrilla Girls’ event: … Continue reading
AT THE CENTRE of Greek culture, both ancient and modern, is the Greek sea, coupled with Greek light. From Odysseus’s seafaring adventures, to the naval battles for Greek independence, to the recent tragedies in the Aegean, the Greek seas have seen plenty of action, and have played a central role in shaping this country’s character. … Continue reading
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