Sikeliotis / Tassos. A Friendship with shared roots

Giorgos Sikeliotis and Tassos (Alevizos) are two distinguished figures of modern Greek art who both experienced the turbulent times of the Occupation and the Civil War, the Junta, and the Metapolitefsi (political transition) period and lived until the mid-1980s. Beyond their long-lasting friendship, these “parallel lives” are marked by certain “meeting points”,  such as the Athens School of Fine Arts, the Artists’ National Liberation Front, , the “Stathmi” group, their interest in engraving and the dissemination of art, and their participation in numerous joint group and touring exhibitions in Greece and abroad. An additional dimension of their activity relates to their presence in Thessaloniki, with exhibitions (“Macedonian Art Society Techni”, “Diagonios”, “Kochlias”), lectures, book presentations, and the commissioning and acquisition of works.

The exhibition thematically presents a large collection of paintings, drawings, and engravings by the two artists, sourced from museums, foundations, collectors, and the collections of the Teloglion Foundation.

The parallel exploration of the artistic output and lives of these creators is accompanied by rich archival material, with the exhibition being a joint organization of the Teloglion Foundation of the A.U.Th., the National Gallery – Alexandros Soutsos Museum, and the Anthony E. Comninos Foundation, under the auspices of the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic. More than 160 works are presented, among which, the following stand out: The Cultivation of Tobacco by Tassos and Mangioros, the four Ladies of Rebetiko by Tassos, Archaic Dances by Sikeliotis for the New Theater, the laterna painted by Sikeliotis, and works related to rebetiko, as well as the series of gouaches that Tassos created for AGET-Heracles shortly before his death, featuring themes from the Occupation. The exhibition catalog (180 pages) will be published in both Greek and English.

Duration: 27 October 2024 – 15 January 2025