February 15 to March 17, 2024
The art of Rika Panas (Panagiotopoulou, mother’s surname Lazani, born in Athens in 1929) is deeply anthropocentric. Her revelatory paintings depict her experiences during the difficult times she encountered in Greece. Her work was shaped by the events of the Civil War, the German occupation, and the colonels’ dictatorship, as well as her struggles with health issues. Her retrospective exhibition, curated by Elizabeth Plessa at the City of Athens Art Gallery from February 15 to March 17, features around 80 acrylics on canvas and paper, allowing visitors to appreciate the beauty and meaning behind her work.
Using strongly gestural writing on a usually monochromatic background, Rika Panas’ works focus on the essence of the issues that concern the artist, highlighting the stylized human form. The principal themes in the 95-year-old artist Rika Panas’s paintings are the lack of freedom, erosion of culture, search for identity, despair, and hope of humanity.
The exhibition showcases the artist’s early creations, first presented at the Nees Morfes Art Gallery in 1962. The following two main sections feature works created in response to censorship and the fear of the dictatorial regime, exhibited in London (Drian Galleries, 1969) and Athens (British Council, 1970), followed by another exhibition in London (Drian Galleries, 1971) and finally in Rome (Galleria d’Arte Albatros, 1972).
After democracy was restored in the country, Rika Panas pursued a private and solitary creative path, devoting herself to painting without interruption until around 2010. The works produced during this period are shown in the exhibition’s final section. While the presentation follows a linear, chronological order, each section also includes pieces created during other periods of Rika Panas’ career to highlight the diverse connections between the visual and ideological threads that have shaped the artist’s life and work.
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday: 11:00 – 19:00, Sunday: 10:00 – 16:00
The exhibition will remain closed on Mondays
web: www.opanda.gr