Encore - new Greek painting, part 2

Encore - new Greek painting, part 2, at the Municipal Gallery in Athens.

For the second part of this exhibition we had to walk to the second building of the Municipal Gallery which is situated at the back of the first one. 

Thirty-three new Greek painters exhibiting their work.

Kiki Kolybari, in the Near Distance, 2023, (acrylic on canvas)

Antonis Stoantzikis, Parform, 2022, (polymer clay and cement)

Antonis Stoantzikis, Qanja, 2023, (oil on canvas)

Kez, Cosmic Blue, 2023, (cement and canvas)

Eirene Eustathiou, Untitled, (oil and acrylic on four panels)

Panagiotis Kefalas, Untitled, 2019, (oil on canvas attached on wood)

Panagiotis Kefalas, Untitled, 2017, (oil on wood)

Panagiotis Kefalas, Untitled, 2019, (oil on canvas)

Panagiotis Kefalas, Untitled, 2019, (oil on canvas)

Panagiotis Kefalas, Untitled, 2017, (oil on canvas)

Stelios Karamanolis, Untitled, 2022, (acrylic, coloured pencil on canvas)

Stella Tsoumanidou, Untitled, 2022, (acrylic, coloured pencil on canvas)

Karolina Krasouli, Note, 2023, (gesso, dust pigment, graphite, gold leaf and thread on canvas)

Katerina Sarra, Untitled, 2022, (oil on canvas)

 

Encore - New Greek Painting, part 1

Encore - new Greek painting, at the Municipal Gallery, Athens.

An exhibition of paintings by 33 contemporary Greek artists.

Andreas Ragnar Kassapis, Impostor, 2018, (oil on wood panel)

Niki Gulema, Untitled, 2023, (oil, graphite & pigment powder on fabric)

Andreas Tzourovitz, Score, 2022, (beech wood (reclaimed basketball flooring), metallic basketball ring)

Andreas Tzourovitz, Untitled, 2021, (acrylic on wood, varnish)

Andrea Tzourovitz, Untitled, 2021, (acrylic on wood)

Andrea Tzourovitz, Utitled, 2021, (acrylic on wood, varnish)

Nikolas Simantirakis, The Come and Go II, 2023, (oil on canvas)

David Sampethai, Pillowboy, 2022-23, (tapestry hand tufted, sheep yarn, hand dyed)

Ileana Arnaoutou, Ephemeral Sleep Structures, 2023, (oil on canvas)

Ileana Arnaoutou, Afternoon Sharong, 2023, (oil on canvas)

Dimitris Rentoumis, Foundation, 2016

Nikos Topalidis, Seascape, 2017, (graphite on paper)

Varvara Liakounakou, Ghosts, 2021, (acrylic and pencil on canvas)

Nikos Topalidis, Ghosts, 2021, (acrylic and pencil on canvas)

The Runner by Kostas Varotsos

The last time we visited the National Gallery in Athens we did something we had not done before: rather than giving The Runner a quick, albeit admiring,  glance, and moving on, we actually crossed the road, went up to the square and looked at this awesome sculpture properly, from all angles.

The sculpture faces the National Gallery and the Hilton Hotel, busy traffic all around it.

First completed in 1988, the 40-foot-tall sculpture was created by Costas Varotsos. The densely layered work is formed from thousands of jagged shards of greenish-grey glass which are stacked around iron, forming a runner in motion. 

Originally the piece was installed in Omonia Square, but due to fears that it would topple from underground metro vibrations, in 1994 the city moved the piece fo Megalis tou Genous Sholi square - not much of a square, more of a traffic island.

When designing the sculpture, Varotsos considered which types of movement occur in these public spaces and how they might impact the viewing of the work. 'The position of people on the square is never fixed', he explains. 'As is the case with every city, here, too, objects and buildings are things yous see while in motion. Rarely do you stop to look closely at something. Individuals observing the sculpture do so at two speeds, depending on where they are on the square: walking on the sidewalks or driving by in a car. The kind of space operating here is not only a purely visual one, but also one open to the sense of touch; one generating a tactile sensation'.

The figure is meant to capture the exact moment one finishes a race - be that a literal translation of a marathon, or a more loose interpretation of conquering a challenging moment.

Finally, in this shot, The Runner can be seen next to a 1,500 year old olive tree, also in the square.

Eating and drinking in Naxos

When we're on holiday on the islands, we like to go for a drink or two, usually ouzo, before our evening meal. Our preferred option is a place that is a bit different, with maybe a traditional feel  and somewhere by the sea with good views. This proved impossible in the Hora in Naxos: all the bars were your standard-issue, identical to bars everywhere in the world, aimed at tourists. They were also very busy, not to our taste. 

We did find this place though, Diogenes, which we liked: it had a traditional feel to it, and by the second day we realised that it was where older gay men liked to go. Some were tourists who had been coming to this place and Naxos for years. 

Even though Diogenes is near the sea,  our view was this, their second sitting area

and the pedestrianised path which was excellent for people watching especially those going to the Portara and coming back after the sunset.

Facing us was a line of palm trees where all (it seemed) the birds of the island came here to sleep as the sun went down. There was a cocophony of very pleasant sound the whole time we sat here having our drinks. They would fly over in never-ending groups. The only other time I have come across this is in Syros where again, during our early evening drinks hundreds, no thousands, of birds would congregate every evening. If you look closely enough at the photograph you will see the tiny birds perched on top of the branches.

Facing us to our left was also this square, and one evening a band started playing traditional Greek music. They were good and they were playing for a good cause, animal rescue, their banner read 'we rescue, you save'.

Lots of people stopped to listen and some started dancing.

Eating in Naxos:

The food served in Naxos tavernas is traditional Greek, but there are quite a few dishes that are local and they are generally delicious. Naxos produces a lot of its own food and the island is a great cheese producer including its own cheeses that can't be found anywhere else. We went to a different taverna every night, except for Elliniko - it was so good there that we had to go twice.

For our first evening meal we chose to go to this taverna owned and run by the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Naxos. 

It was huge, and always very busy, always full and most of the time there would be a queue of people by the entrance waiting to get a table. 

The food was good, and the atmosphere excellent.

Oniro (dream in Greek) is in the old town 

you have to go up three flights of stairs

to reach the terrace where the restaurant is (I took this photograph from Avaton )

the food was good as was the service

 

and we enjoyed looking at the views of the castle.

Metaxi Mas, Amongst Ourselves in Greek, is nothing like what its name promises: it's very busy and you have to book beforehand as it's so popular. 

It's spread across a few streets, looks lovely and interesting.

The food is good, but the staff are quite dismissive of the customers - I think their success has gone to their heads a bit.

Near the centre of the Hora where most restaurants and tavernas are situated,  is To Kati Allo Tou Giannaki, a traditional taverna, so we came here one evening. It looked promising, was always busy, but in the end, not as good as we thought.

Typografio is in the old town 

one can sit on the terrace, which is where we sat

or across the road, in the garden.

The food is delicious, Greek cuisine but with a twist of nouvelle cuisine - we really enjoyed it. The service was excellent and the staff very friendly.

One of the child/busker/violinists played just below where we were sitting and that was fun.

 

This is Ellinikon (the Greek One), recommended by everyone we spoke to and yes, they were right, it's a great place. Booking is essential but there are nevertheless people queuing every evening hoping to get a table.

The food is excellent, the service exemplary, the staff very friendly, the atmosphere great.

We came here twice, and would have come a third evening, but could not get a table.