City of Athens is hosting the exhibition Arcadia by Haris Gavrilos (1957-1995) at the Municipal Gallery of Athens from June 30 to September 25, 2022. The exhibition, organized by the City of Athens Culture, Sports and Youth Organization, presents a selection of large-scale oil paintings (1985-1995), a series of large drawings (1984-1991), as well as many small drawings in display cases, covering the period 1978-1987.
The exhibition is entitled “Arcadia”, which, besides being the artist’s birthplace, is also a dreamy, idyllic, utopian place, a poetic term denoting bliss and serenity. It is also a source of inspiration for many artists throughout the centuries. In that sense, Arcadia seems the most appropriate title to convey the work of a gifted painter who sought the meaning of joy in his painting.
Although largely unknown, the prematurely lost artist – he died at 38 – managed to leave his strong imprint on Greek art. He absorbed the aesthetic of his time like a few others and creatively integrated it into his work. If we were to use musical terms, we would say that his painting is post-punk or ethereal darkwave. His work is fluid, airy, romantic, dark, melancholic and erotic. Gavrilos’ neo-expressionist painting contains veiled references to Fayums and pioneering artists of different eras, such as Theophanes the Greek, El Greco and Fotis Kontoglou.
The painting of Harry Gavrilos is “post” in that it succeeds or contradicts the painting of his teachers at the School of Fine Arts. Unlike the artists of the 1960s and 1970s, he is not so much interested in space (within space) as in time and its meanings. His reconciliation with the diversity and folds of time directly impacts Gavrilos’ drawings, which are characterized by effortless lines, as in the urns of antiquity. The artist does not start from a specific idea or image; he is not interested in representation per se. The forms he draws are spectral, embryonic, airy, ectoplasmic, and disembodied like those of the saints in Byzantine painting. Although in his 1980s works, his figures look like shadows, alluding to schematic forms of ancient sculpture, in his latest paintings, they are more shaped and therefore more human. They have faces and distinct features; they suffocatingly embrace each other and dream ceaselessly, even at different times.
The exhibition is curated by Christoforos Marinos, art historian and curator of exhibitions and activities of OPANDA.
Inaugurationof the exhibition: Thursday, June 30, 18:00-22:00
Duration: June 30- September 25, 2022
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Friday 11:00 – 19:00, Saturday – Sunday 10:00 – 15:00.
The exhibition will be closed on Mondays.
Admission for the public is free.
City of Athens Art Gallery
Leonidou & Myllerou, Street, Avdi Square.
Building B, Metaxourgeio
Information: 210 5202420|www. opanda. gr