This exhibition covered the work of eleven Greek artists who were influenced by the major events of the 20th century: WWII, the occupation of Greece by the Germans and the famine that ensued; the Civil War that followed the end of the war, and how it divided the nation; finally the seven years of the military dictatorship that brought so much suffering to the Greek people.
In the exhibition we were shown how each artist's work developed and changed as they matured and how some moved on to abstraction. I will cover the work of one artist in each post.
Few have captured the alienation of modern drudgery as poignantly as Gaitis. His signature motif, the Little Man, a stylised and archetypal figure in a jacket, tie and hat is anonymous and is depicting the uniformity and sterility of mass living. Using just black, white and primary colours, Gaitis humorously critiqued the impacts of automation and global capitalism on society - and alluded cleverly to the censorhip of public debate by the military dictatorship - with his caricature litle men in suits.
Gaitis' work is flooded with hundreds of 'protagonists' who sometimes we encounter on the surface of a canvas and sometimes they come out of it. You get the feeling that he wishes to open a dialogue with his own interpretation of pop art and his own answers to the great questions of our time. His Little Man, the man without an identity and a wide-brimmed hat and briefcase is expressionless, always lined up in groups.
Gaitis started off with representational art and gradually turned to abstraction and gestural painting. An interest in sculpture was another constant in his career, again focusing on abstraction. The 'Little People' originally appeared on a small scale and from 1967 they became larger and were arranged around a central theme. They became more stylised, faceless, and numerous, denouncing contemporary society. The 2023 exhibition, to mark the centenary of his birth, was called Yannis Gaitis: The Essence of Anonymity a very apt title, I believe.
Myth Anecdote, 1965, (oil on canvas)
looking closer
Shadows of Men, 1971, (installation of painted wood)
looking closer
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