As part of the exhibition “In Parallel” by the painter Alexis Kiritsopoulos, presented by the Municipality of Athens, through OPANDA, at the Athens City Gallery until 11 February, there will be guided tours for the public on Sunday 14 and 28 January at 12:00 by the painter himself and the curator of the exhibition, Christoforos Marinos.

This is the first retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work from 1963 to the present day.

Alexis Kiritsopoulos is one of the most important Greek painters, with a rich and multi-dimensional oeuvre that has left a strong imprint from the post-war period until today. In his antidepressant, partly satirical and largely autobiographical painting, the protagonists are the intense, bright, true colours and, secondarily, the heroes. Or, to put it another way, the colours shape and animate the characters, defining the boundaries and shapes of the figures. “Colour is a way to light” he will say. In his case, colour serves the deeper purpose of painting: to provide “comfort, hope and breath to cope”.

From Nastradine Hoja – the first figure he painted using coloured oil pastels with which kites were made – and the illustration of his mother’s memories (“Zoitsa across the Aegean”, Agra, 1982) to the ” Opantasies of Don Quixote” and Aristophanes’ “Icons for the Acharnes” (MIET, 2005 and 2006 respectively), Kiritsopoulos plays with colours, discovering and revealing their infinite potential. Music plays just as important a role as colour in his painting, starting with album covers, first with Dionysis Savvopoulos’ “Truck” (1966), which effectively translates the songwriter’s sensitivity, and later with Manos Hadjidakis’ obviously more painterly ” Paraloga” (1976). Kiritsopoulos is a songwriter of the image. He dances with his heroes and this coordinated dance animates the image: his carefully structured paintings are based on an inner movement, they exude a rhythmology.

Curated by: Christofors Marinos, art historian

Exhibition duration: through 11 February 2024

Opening Hours: Tuesday- Saturday 11:00 – 19:00, Sunday 10:00 – 16:00, Mondays closed

Entrance Free

Art Gallery of the Municipality of Athens:

Leonidou& Myllerou, Avdi Square, Metaxourgion
More Information: 210 5202420| www.opanda.gr