Eros – Iros
The idea “was born one festive evening in Athens”, says Iris Kritikou, who curated the large group exhibition entitled “Eros Iros”. “It borrows its title from Alexandros Papadiamantis’s well-known short story.” More than 60 artists from several generations, all of them established, are taking part in this celebration of art, which opened a few days ago in Heraklion, Crete, at the private Museum of Visual Arts of Heraklion, owned by the collector Kostis Schizakis. It is a spacious 200 sq m venue that fills a gap in the presentation of contemporary art in the large city of Heraklion.
At the opening, the crowds underlined this need, all the more so since this exhibition brings particularly fine works to Crete, among them pieces by artists such as Giorgos Rorris, Stefanos Daskalakis, Maria Filopoulou, Marios Voutsinas, Io Angeli, Giannis Adamakis, Eirini Iliopoulou, Panagiotis Beldekos, Dimitris Andreadakis, Michalis Madenis, Alexis Veroukas, Dimitris Sarasitis, Chrysa Vergi, Christos Pallantzas, Tasos Misouras, Maria Giannakaki and many more…
The strong turnout from Chania was also striking at the opening, while several of the painters in the exhibition came from Athens, among them Athina Chatzi, Gefso Papadaki, Minas Kambitakis, Voula Karambatzaki, Frangiskos Doukakis, Georgia Bliatsou, Vaso Tringa, Nektarios Aposporis, Marios Voutsinas, Efi Manou, Lydia Margaroni and, of course, the curator and art historian Iris Kritikou. Lambrini Boviatsou came from Chania. The artist Maria Grigoriadi, who lives in Heraklion, was also there.
It is a concentration of high-quality work and a crossroads of generations, but above all a rare opportunity for the public in Crete to see good painting (mainly), as well as sculpture and constructions. The Museum of Visual Arts of Heraklion (METI) is a special case: in the ten-plus years it has been operating as a venue for contemporary art, it has been carried forward by the dedication of its founder and owner, Kostis Schizakis.
It is one more case of private initiative serving the public role of art. Over the years METI has built partnerships and links with other venues in Greece; it invites artists, gives opportunities to Cretan artists and stimulates new ideas. The exhibition “Eros Iros”, conceived and presented thanks to Iris Kritikou and organised by Kostis Schizakis, will remain in Heraklion until 31 March and in May will move to Athens, where it will be shown at the Foundation of the Hellenic World.
The subject of the exhibition is, naturally, love and desire, “the joy and the anguish, the longing and the immersion of the human being in the condition of love”, as Iris Kritikou notes. Old and new works were brought together in support of the theme, which is expressed directly or by allusion in a variety of styles and media.
The participating artists are: Io Angeli, Giannis Adamakis, Stelios Alexakis, Anna Achilleos, Christina Aktidi, Dimitris Andreadakis, Kostas Ananidas, Nektarios Aposporis, Chrysa Vergi, Alexis Veroukas, Eirini Vogiatzi, Marios Voutsinas, Andreas Georgiadis, Savvas Georgiadis, Maria Giannakaki, Maria Grigoriadi, Stefanos Daskalakis, Dikaia Despotaki, Giannis Dimitrakis, Tania Dimitrakopoulou, Maria Diakodimitriou, Frangiskos Doukakis, Konstantinos Esslin, Eirini Iliopoulou, Minas Kambitakis, Voula Karambatzaki, Dimitris Katsigiannis, Theofilos Katsipanos, Vasilis Liaouris, Michalis Madenis, Nektarios Mamais, Efi Manou, Tasos Mantzavinos, Christina Mantzavinou, Lydia Margaroni, Varvara Mavrakaki, Stella Meletopoulou, Tasos Misouras, Timos Batinakis, Giannis Bekiaris, Chariton Bekiaris, Panagiotis Beldekos, Georgia Bliatsou, Lambrini Boviatsou, Christos Pallantzas, Gefso Papadaki, Maria Pastra, Stelios Petroulakis, Giorgos Rorris, Giorgos Saltaferos, Dimitris Sarasitis, Marina Stellatou, Giorgos Taxidis, Antonis Titakis, Antonis Tsakiris, Eleftheria Tseiko, Katerina Tsembeli, Vaso Tringa, Virginia Filippousi, Maria Filopoulou, Pavlos Chambidis, Athina Chatzi, Aristidis Chrisanthopoulos.
A catalogue designed by Andreas Georgiadis accompanies the exhibition.
MUSEUM OF VISUAL ARTS OF HERAKLION,
Nymfon 3, Heraklion, Crete.
The exhibition runs until 31 March 2017
Source: Kathimerini
