An extraordinary exhibition by renowned Greek artist
A stunning new exhibition, Let There be Light, featuring two singular Greek talents, the renowned artist Angelos and the celebrated musical composer Stamatis Spanoudakis, has just concluded at the Hellenic Centre in London.
On Friday 27th April, Let There Be Light was inaugurated with an opening speech by the Lord Mayor of Westminster Councillor Ian Adams, who praised the work of Angelos and commented on the importance of the exhibition in furthering the relationship between the Greek diaspora and the London community.
Amongst other notable attendees was the Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, the Greek Ambassador Dimtrios Caramitsos-Tziras, the High Commissioner of Cyprus Euripides Evriviades, the Vice-President of Greece’s opposition party Adonis Georgiadis and many others.
The exhibition showcased the ways in which Angelos and the composer Stamatis Spanoudakis believe that the responsibility of art and music is to heal society from a brutal reality.
Angelos’ traditional paintings employ imagery of an infinite cosmos, depicting hyperrealist and decadent still-life’s sit hovering against black background and starry skies to further highlight the play of light.
Angelos’ constellation of paintings have been carefully paired with individual compositions by the prominent Greek composer Stamatis Spanoudakis, providing a rich and emotional density to the works. The conjoined forces of the music and art, by two renowned masters, together deliver a fully immersive, cinematic experience.
Two key works in the show that perfectly encapsulate this sense of light, darkness and hope are Year 2118 and Physical and Spiritual Dimension of Light. In 2017, Angelos’ painting Girl with a pair of doves sold at Bonhams for over £106,000 (over its estimate of £12,000) in London. This is the artist’s first solo show in London in over two decades.
Angelos Panagiotou was born in Farkadona near Trikala in Central Greece in 1943. Having studied Painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1962-67) under professor G. Mavroidis, he continued his education on numerous trips to European museum, where he studied both the Great Masters of the past and the latest trends in Western Art. Setting his super-realistic and specific depictions of favoured themes – still life’s, landscapes, nesting doves –within backdrops of the starry cosmos, Angelos expresses his vision of the relationship of all things. The poignancy of his choice of subjects is contrasted with the great unknown that lies beyond, Angelos encapsulating his philosophical musings in highly visual, skilfully rendered and accessible forms.
