The Homeric epic has been a source of inspiration for Markos Kambanis for years. In 2018, he began creating a large series of related works, twenty-two of which are included in the exhibition at the Ghika Gallery. This is a single painting composition in progress, inspired by the unparalleled figurative power of the Homeric text.

As the artist says, he relied more on research on the Odyssey than on the epic itself. The debates and controversies about the places mentioned in the work gave him the inspiration to make his own pictorial commentary.

The journey begins with the exquisite 15th century manuscript Odyssey from the British Library’s Harley Manuscript Collection. The artist digitally printed the 24 rhapsodies, and on them he painted Odyssean places uncreated and built, confirmed and unconfirmed. However, “the Odyssey never ends” and Marcos Campanis has already created new works and continues…

The intention of the artist and the curators of the exhibition, Konstantinos Papachristou and Manos Dimitrakopoulos, was for the visitor to have an unmediated contact with the work. With this in mind, there are no introductory texts and explanatory captions in the space. The whole set-up of the exhibition highlights the abstract landscapes referring to a “fairy tale Odyssey”. Eleftheria Deko’s lighting and the architectural design of the exhibition certainly contribute to this.

In the room, the works of Campanis are accompanied by an oil painting by Ghika, giving the visitor the opportunity to tour the Ghika Gallery, the work of the people who defined artistic and intellectual production in Greece in the mid-20th century.