The Nafplio Annex of the National Gallery Greece – Alexandros Soutsos Museum is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the paintings of Eleni Pavlopoulou, titled *Zoeforos*, in its temporary exhibition hall.

The exhibition features twenty-one works of art that engage in a dialogue with the historical paintings in the permanent collection of the Nafplio annex of the National Gallery – Alexander Soutsos Museum. The aim of the exhibition is not to represent visual reality but to explore new ways of seeing, to seek out multiple meanings, and to reinterpret the past through the lens of the present. The concepts of freedom and the struggle for it, as well as references to the elements and the preservation of our natural environment, constitute the central themes of the painter’s personal visual vocabulary.

Eleni Pavlopoulou’s visual universe includes symbolic places: the Parthenon, Athens, Arcadia; and figures: Georgios Gemistos-Plethon, Manuel Chrysoloras, Voltaire, Rigas Feraios, Heroes of 1821, Ioannis Kapodistrias; and symbols such as: birds, plants, horses, and fragments of ancient sculptures. Through the use of these archetypes, the artist stands among them in a constant dialogue, harmoniously condensing them within the limited space of the artwork and transforming socio-political and historical events into powerful poetic allegories.

The 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution served as a source of inspiration for Eleni Pavlopoulou, who rendered the portraits of the revolutionaries in a spectral, suggestive manner. Through this reinterpretation, she highlighted the persistent presence of the past in the present and the future, emphasizing that the Revolution remains alive amidst the cracks of time. Drawing inspiration primarily from the portraits of the Bavarian painter Karl Kratsaizen (1794–1878), he reinterprets the faces of the heroes as markers of collective memory, transcending the bonds of matter and engaging the viewer’s emotion to complete their image.

The body of work in this exhibition demonstrates how Eleni Pavlopoulou transforms the past into a new universe of dynamic lines and a dreamlike diffusion of the color spectrum, restoring the image of a lost unity with nature. Through her works, she addresses timeless themes and invites viewers into a dialogue, emphasizing the relationship between the art of painting and memory, as the act of painting keeps the traces of past forms alive.

Opening: Saturday 28 March, at: 20:00
Nafplio annex of the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum
23 Sidiras Merarchias Street, Nafplio

General Director: Syrago Tsiara
Exhibition Curator: Labrini Karakourti-Orfanopoulou
Production Coordinator: Irini-Daphne Sapka
Visual Identity: A4 DESIGN

Duration: 28 March 2026 -17 January 2027