The Athens Fine Arts Festival 2011 was held on December 15, 2011 in the area of Kolonaki, Athens, Greece. The “Hryses Efhes” (Golden Wishes) exhibit hosted paintings from various artists throughout Greece and was organized by Michael Romanos, artist and organizer of fine arts.
Visitors entering the gallery experienced a truly amazing Christmas atmosphere. A grand piano stood in the middle of the room and students from the Art School of Athens, along with Chloe Amarandou (President of Nikos Amarandou School of Arts), sang various Christmas carols and old Greek songs. Impressive paintings by the artists decorated the walls of the gallery, all conveying the different personalities of each artist.
Present at the exhibit was George Vassiliou, 40, who started painting at the age of 3 years old. Since then his curiosity and his interest in art has never stopped. Somalia born Vassilou studied Architecture at the University of Westminister in London. His work at the exhibit was a continuation of a show he had held about a year ago called “Soul to Soul”, in which pictures of angels were painted on rocks playing electric guitars. At the exhibit he had one of these works painted on a canvas. He says his inspiration came from theatre writer Euguene O’Neill.
Dimitra Giannakea, who was also at the exhibition, started sketch drawing as a child. She started at the age of five and still continues today. Her painting that was on display featured the icon of the Thea Litourgia Damascinou. The same painting was displayed at the Museum of Hrakleio in Crete. Giannakea says, “When I want to relax I paint icons.”
Another artist, Alexsandros Lagos, 32, who has studied management, had an interesting way of looking at relationships. His artistic work was not really a painting but concrete 3D art. It was created with nails pinned onto a board in the shape of a heart, and connecting each nail was threads of red yarn. As Lagos described it, he said that the red yarn represented the complication of each relationship we have, whether it is friendships or romantic relationships. Each relationship in his view has its own difficulties. On the bottom of the piece there was a sketch drawing of a man that represents the next person who will be part of a new relationship.
The Art Festival also included artists such as school teacher Paraskevi Panagiotou, 38, a poet from Evia, Meglio from Thesaloniki, art school graduate, Antonia Mantzouka, 26, who is just starting out in the art world and Katerina Gigira, who has been painting her entire life and is continuing to paint because it is her passion and her life. All the paintings from the exhibition will be depicted in a beautiful 2012 calendar.
For further information on future art exhibitions contact: mromanos.blogspot.com
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