On Saturday, June 11th 2022, Fougaro welcomes at the Fougaro Gallery the artist Lefteris Olympios, who lives and works between the Netherlands, Cyprus and Greece, on the occasion of a flashback to his painting. In a large exhibition entitled "3", the public will have the opportunity to get to know the work of an important artist with a number of distinctions, who has assimilated the principles of folk and Byzantine art, giving gestural paintings with Greek ecumenism.
Exhibition's Opening
Saturday, June 11th 2022, 20:00 - 23:00.
Duration
June to December 2022
Place - Visiting hours
Fougaro Gallery - Thursday to Sunday, 18:00-22:00
Entrance
Free
Information
Τ. +30 27520 47300 | +30 210 8070523
Ε. art@fougaro.gr
Tip
For visitors from Attica, a bus will depart from Athens at 18:30 and from Nafplio at 23:30 for Athens. It is necessary to book your seat at T. +30 210 8070523 and T. +30 6943 056387.
Did you know that?
Part of the proceeds from the sale of the painter's works in the exhibition will be donated to the "Together for the Child" Association, supporting the creation of a hostel for children and their mothers or companions, refugees from Ukraine.
Sections
Exhibition "3" is structured around the following three sections of works, most of which are presented for the first time in Greece.
The 2011 series "The Journey", deals with the archetypal concepts of involuntary wandering and voluntary movement, through different manifestations. As the art historian Mrs. Efthymia Georgiadou-Kountoura has noted, "in the successive images of the narrative of the "journeys", one can see the intense effort of Olympus to cover as many aspects of history and the updating of the original motif as possible. This battle with matter , for the approach of the ideal conception, is not realized with an image, but with constant shifts of the point of view, through which the painter is gradually led to complete freedom […] ".
The section "Catherine Cornaro, The Third Hand" of 2018, illustrates the sad story of the last queen of Cyprus. In the words of the artist himself: "The painful story of Catherine Cornaro, the last queen of Cyprus, fascinated me but also made me sad. […] This young noblewoman was sent from Venice to marry the king of Cyprus, [ …] But her end was not auspicious: Catherine, after 15 years of reign, is forced to hand over power to the Most Serene. […]
Despite her will and with pain in her heart, she left Cyprus in March 1489, chased by her own homeland, widowed and childless. But who actually handed over Cyprus to Venice? History says that Catherine Cornaro did it. But she herself loved the place, she loved the people and the people loved her. She did not want to leave. She then distances herself emotionally and her physical body becomes the organ that delivers the power. It becomes the third hand, which performs the act of delivery. It's the historic moment of handing over the crown to the Lion of Venice. "
Finally, the series of drawings "The Cyprus Drawings" of the period 2021-2022, were made in Cyprus, during the period of confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Without a clear orientation, the artist renders paintings from everyday life, modern reality, Greek mythology, tradition, religion, the world of dreams and imagination. As the artist says, "I sat at the table in front of my paper and materials and let my hand and heart lead me where they wanted. At first I did not believe that I was the creator of these designs. As we say in hagiography, I used to say: "Created by the hand of Eleftherios Olympios".
Lefteris Olympios
Born in Limassol (Cyprus), in 1953; lives and works in Amsterdam. He studied Graphic Arts at Doxiades School, Athens, as well as Painting, Iconography, Fresco and Mosaic at the Athens School of Fine Arts. He continued with Painting and sculpture at the Free Academy of Fine Arts in Hague. He visits in 1985 the IJmuider Kring, an artists' community in IJmuiden. His contact with this group and especially the painter Lei Moulin was crucial for the development of his work.
In 1997 he represents Cyprus at the 47th Venice Biennale with the series 'Philoxenia'. In 2012, the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens organizes his retrospective exhibition entitled "Facing Byzantium". In 2014, he presented his "Violated Beauty" in the Domkerk of Utrecht. A site-specific work, created for the cathedral. This work refers to the Cultural Heritage and especially of occupied Cyprus after 1974.
In 2019, three of his paintings from the series Violated Beauty entered as permanent installation at the ICC (International Criminal Court) in The Hague. Lefteris Olympios exhibits regularly in the Netherlands, Cyprus, and Greece, and his work is included in major private and public collections.
