On the assumption that the best observers of the world are either painters/artists or scientists, the exhibition at the MOMus Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki with the inventive title “The King is Naked” from 12 June to 14 September 2025 puts the phrase from Andersen’s well-known fairy tale at its centre and identifies as its protagonists the renowned painters Vassilis Vassilakakis, Vangelis Gokas and Ilias Papailakis.

As the modern age maniacally worships and at the same time hastily overtakes the image, these three painters choose to observe the world still – not out of reaction, but out of respect for the image. Vasilakakis (b. 1968), Gokas (b. 1969) and Papailiakis (b. 1970) present their paintings in a single exhibition, where they have jointly decided not to compare but to continue an artistic dialogue, allowing textures, deep shadows and colours to converse. The attempt is ultimately to present a rare artistic generation and friendship of three creators, aiming to highlight the power of the image to fundamentally deconstruct the real.

The exhibition is a silent rebellion of painting: for its end, which is every now and then proclaimed and every time solemnly refuted; for its unique way of giving birth to images that do not exist and of representing what we never see at first sight.

Curated by: Areti Leopoulou, Yannis Bolis, Art Historians, MOMus curators