Elke Lagansky - Kosmos

Elke Lagansky - Kosmos, at the Municipal Art Gallery, Athens.

Lagansky calls the act of painting 'her way from darkness to light'.

Lagansky's kosmos, her world, consists of human beings and the way they navigate the world; there is a strong element of decay (particularly in her portraits); the composition of a personal automatic writing and codes; her visual language which balances between the past and the present, the material and the immaterial worlds.

I really enjoyed looking at these paintings, and marvelled at some of the unconventional materials she used. Interestingly, most paintings have no title, we were just given a date and the materials used.

2001, (mixed media)

looking at each painting individually

2001, (acrylic)

2002, (tar)

2002, (tar)

This was my favourite (most likely because of my obssession with Faiyum) and I took so many photos, but could not get one without reflections from the opposite wall. This is the best one I could get.

Premordial Landscape

Premordial Landscape

Premordial Landscape, 2006 (acrylic)

Premordial Landscape, 2006 (acrylic)

(mixed media)

Looking at some of the portraits more closely

 

Kostas Papanikolaou - Four Seasons

Four Seasons by Kostas Papanikolaou at the Niarchos Centre, Athens.

The exhibition was held in the Library.

Papanikolaou is considered as one of the most important artists of the New Figuration movement in Greece. His works narrate a dreamlike reality that unfolds around a series of recurring themes: urban life and interiors, dreamy landscapes, seascapes.  His paintings are selectively realistic, highly narrative with a disarming simplicity and a bold use of colours.

This exhibition was organised around the four seasons.

Summer:

Poros, 1998, (oil on canvas)

looking closer

Poros, 1998, (oil on canvas)

Hydra, 2021, (egg-tempera on plywood)

Houses in Poros, (fresco on bricks)

sideways view

Spring:

Landscape, (oil on canvas)

View from the Window, 1983, (pencil and tempera on paper mounted on cardboard)

Summer Room, 1981, (oil on paper mounted on canvas)

Poros, (watercolour on paper)

Window, (pencil and oil on paper)

Autumn:

On Board, 2020, (egg-tempera on plywood)

On the Board on the Way To Galatas - Poros, 2019, (egg-tempera on plywood)

Night Landscape - Eleusis, 1978, (oil on canvas)

Olive Tree, (fresco)

Lemon Tree in Poros, 2021, (charcoal and egg-tempera on plywood)

looking closer

Inner Courtyard in Exarchia, 1979, (watercolour on paper)

Fuga No. 7, (mixed media on plywood)

Fuga No. 8, (egg-tempera on marine plywood)

Winter:

Apartment Building, 2024, (egg-tempera on plywood)

looking closer

Athens, (pencil and egg-tempera on plywood)

looking closer

Teachers' Office at Karpenisi High School, (pencil and ink on paper)

Teachers' Office at Karpenisi High School, 1989, (pencil and ink on paper)