It’s difficult to believe that twenty years ago, this charming 43-year-old master of colour, who looks you straight in the eye, was a pioneer of “happenings” and on-site exhibitions in Greece, or that he was once an apprentice on Mt. Athos, where he learnt the secrets of icon painting while fasting and praying. His greatest achievement was five years ago, when he broke free from drawing. “The principle of painting is to make the pencil an extension of yourself.” He still honours and respects his spiritual fathers: “Nikos Nikolaou and Yiannis Moralis complemented each other in the way they spoke. What Nikolaou said was more related to tradition, drawing, rhythm and how these works are painted... Then Yiannis Moralis would continue: “And after that, smash it all up, liberate yourself, find your own form, represent contemporary life.” Paraskevi Katimertzi, Ta Nea, 14 March 1991
2010, 80 × 60 cm, acrylic on canvas
356
2009, 25 × 20 cm, watercolour on paper
2003, 25 × 20 cm, watercolour on paper
2009, 14 × 18 cm, watercolour on paper
2009, 80 × 100 cm, acrylic marouflage 357
1991, 14 × 20 cm, watercolour on paper
1991, 14 × 19 cm, watercolour on paper
After an exhibition is over, you begin to “open up”. You read, you travel. You talk with your friends, you see lots of paintings. You see the edge of a table, painted by Bonnard. And then a bell goes off. Something is jabbing at you. Much training is needed for an artist to “seize” this stimulus. Then you try it out. And the new subject may change the way you work. P.S. Fivos Sakalis, Gynaika, June 2006
358
2013, 85 × 80 cm, acrylic on canvas
359
And indeed, one sees that Pavlos Samios’s painting, from the mid-70s when it first appeared to the present day, is nothing more than a field for carrying out a stichomythia in front of the viewer, as both the real or the imaginary experience takes on substance; and dreams, life and love become reality. Olga Mentzafou-Polyzou, Stories, big or small, 1999
1992, 280 Ă— 400 cm, encaustic mural 360
361
1992, 120 × 120 cm, oil on canvas 362
1992, 80 × 65 cm, oil on canvas
1992, 80 × 65 cm, oil on canvas
Even though his figures are rendered in a more stylistic form, with unabated boldness in terms of how they are drawn and with disarming refinement in their use of colour, nonetheless, they try, like acrobats, to balance on the tips of their fingers, while maintaining their “loving” relationship. With a steady hand, the artist gives his images rhythm with a line that is at times interrupted by voids which also constitute an organic part, a piece of the composition. Olga Mentzafou-Polyzou, Stories, big or small, 1999 363
1992 120 Ă— 120 cm, oil on canvas
His well-known and long-established style of painting with its elongated, ethereal figures is significantly renewed here to avoid the risk of stylization. Manos Stefanidis, As an antidote to nostalgia, 1996
1992, 200 Ă— 220 cm, oil on canvas 364
365
1992 100 × 100 cm, oil on canvas 366
One must get along well with instinct. Our painting is what we are and what we live each moment. P.S. Amanda Mihalopoulou, Kathimerini, 15 March 1991
1992, 92 × 73 cm, oil on canvas 1991, 80 × 65 cm, oil on canvas
1992, 25 × 20 cm,
watercolour on paper 367
1992 92 × 73 cm, oil on canvas
1992, 80 × 65 cm, oil on canvas
1992, 92 × 73 cm, oil on canvas
1992, 92 × 73 cm, oil on canvas
368
I felt the need to forget about models for a while, to dive into my soul and bring up images both from my imagination and the feeling of the moment. P.S. Maria Tsilimidou, Ependytis, 11 March 2000
1992, 88 Ă— 60 cm, acrylic on paper
1992, 88 Ă— 60 cm, acrylic on paper
369
1991, 100 × 100 cm, oil on canvas
370
The shadows of the carved wooden deities that represent people and situations, but which remain transient and temporary unless reduced to archetypes, to the Idea? Haris Kabouridis, A dreamlike revelation inside and out, 2000
1991, 39 × 51 cm, encaustic marouflage
1991, 90 × 64 cm, acrylic on paper
1991, 39 × 51 cm, encaustic marouflage 371
372
1991, 38 × 45 cm, acrylic marouflage on plywood
1991, 90 × 64 cm, acrylic marouflage on plywood
1991, 90 × 64 cm, acrylic marouflage on plywood
1991, 90 × 64 cm, acrylic marouflage on plywood
1991, 62 × 90 cm, acrylic marouflage 1991, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
1992, 115 × 90 cm, oil on canvas
What’s important to this painter is to convey his own image and the emotional charge that concerns him – not to seek out innovation. Haris Kabouridis, Daily life as a religious icon, 1998
373
1991, 60 × 72 cm, mixed media on plywood
1992, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
374
1991, 13 × 18 cm, ink on paper
1992, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
1991, 21 × 28 cm, watercolour on paper
1991, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
1991, 13 × 18 cm, ink on paper
1991, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
375
1991, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
1991, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
1991, 19 × 14 cm, ink on paper
1991, 19 × 14 cm, ink on paper
Absolute Good never exists. At least, may what we call Evil have less power and may the spirit follow Good. Let it find a way to make war in other ways, without weapons. P.S.
1991, 92 × 73 cm, oil on canvas 376
1991, 80 × 65 cm, oil on canvas
The strict, geometrical arrangement, which is now defined not by shape but by colour, and the enhancement of the surrounding outlines contribute to the monumental calmness of the composition. Olga Mentzafou-Polyzou, Stories, big or small, 1999
1991, 10 × 13 cm, ink on paper
1991, 80 × 55 cm, oil on canvas
1991, 80 × 55 cm, oil on canvas
1991, 80 × 55 cm, oil on canvas 377
1991, 100 × 100 cm, oil on canvas
378
1991, 14 × 19 cm, ink on paper
1991, 92 × 73 cm, oil on canvas 379
1991, 65 × 54 cm, oil on canvas 380
1991, 89 × 62 cm, oil marouflage on plywood
1991, 89 × 62 cm, oil marouflage on plywood
1991, 60 × 38 cm, oil on canvas
The artist’s life experience, whether good or bad, must come out in his work, because only then is creation true. P.S. Maria Tsilimidou, Ependytis, 11 March 2000
381
1991, 65 × 54 cm, oil on canvas
382
1991, 60 × 46 cm, oil on canvas
1991, 120 × 120 cm, oil on canvas
383
1991, 21 × 16 cm, watercolour on paper
1991, 45 × 38 cm, mixed media on plywood
Man integrated in creation is experienced in Samios’s work as an indivisible unity with nature, expressing his primitive relationship with the earth and sea. This relationship, of a glorifying nature as the light shines upon a human figure planting a tree or fishing in a rowboat, seeks only to point to the utter harmony that can exist between Man and the natural environment, between Man and the nostalgia for a paradise in danger of being lost. Olga Mentzafou-Polyzou, Stories, big or small, 1999
384
1991, 90 × 65 cm, encaustic on wood
1991, 54 × 65 cm, oil on canvas 385
1991, 60 × 60 cm, encaustic on wood
386
1991, 90 × 65 cm, encaustic on wood
1992, 97 Ă— 145 cm, oil on canvas
The paintings were about how the soul of the painter plumbs its own depths, having reached the age of maturity and recognition; about how he seeks enthusiasm (from the Ancient Greek entheos, meaning divinely inspired), how he seeks permission to create a representation and a symbol of the world. Haris Kabouridis, A dreamlike revelation inside and out, 2000
387
Painting transcends me. And this is how it should be. I believe that the viewer must finish the painting and give it form. And if she wants, she should find its symbols. It is wrong for the artist to define the interpretations. The door should remain open to all kinds of analyses. A work of art is never finished. You can live for years with a work of art, and when your emotional state is different you may see it from a different viewpoint, interpret it in another way. As long as the work possesses the “lava” we talked about. That’s why we shouldn’t confuse the classical with the academic. A classical work of art is always full, grand, and always has something new to tell us. We might say “I’m done with Michelangelo”, “I’m done with Da Vinci and Ingres”, but we always come back and discover that they have something to say in relation to the new circumstances. P.S. Fivos Sakalis, Gynaika, June 2006
1993, 75 × 55 cm, watercolour on paper 388
1993, 70 Ă— 100 cm, watercolour on paper
389
390
2005, 55 × 60 cm, acrylic on paper
Samios spoke of his vision of a notional church, which would open onto natural space – poetic and not traditional-formalistic. Haris Kabouridis, Archetypal images, 2002
2005, 55 × 60 cm, acrylic on paper,
Abraham’s hospitality
2005, 55 × 60 cm, acrylic on paper
2005, 39 × 58 cm, acrylic on paper, Hospitality 391
Transcending all conventional limitations, Samios succeeds here in transubstantiating the multidimensional challenge he set for himself: colour and the “warmth” of the image-bearing surface (i.e., leather). Dora Iliopoulou-Rogan, Women Friends, 1996
1994, 110 × 100 cm, encaustic on leather 392
393
1995, 115 Ă— 99 cm, encaustic on leather
394
1995, 132 Ă— 120 cm, encaustic on leather
1995, 65 Ă— 65 cm, encaustic on leather 395
1995, 150 Ă— 120 cm, encaustic on leather 396
1995, 114 Ă— 103 cm, encaustic on leather
1995, 123 Ă— 105 cm, encaustic on leather
397
When you paint, you may be thinking or imagining... The young woman. Your love. Some young woman. She may not exist, she may be a fantasy, but my work is addressed to someone. Perhaps to a woman with large, beautiful eyes that you happened to see, whom you don’t know, but then you are back in your studio and you “present” her with a painting for the inspiration she gave you with those eyes of hers. P.S.
398
1995, 110 Ă— 240 cm, encaustic on leather
399
The lived images of a charmed childhood do not serve as an alibi but as an expressive need. They guide him through his present series of paintings. The painter wishes to tell a story and his wish is sacred. Manos Stefanidis, As an antidote to nostalgia, 1996
1994, 90 Ă— 90 cm, encaustic on leather
1993-94, 120 Ă— 150 cm, mixed media 400
401
402
My father was a cobbler. The first job I learnt was how to make shoes. From ages nine to fourteen I helped him at the bench. And when the customers asked for specific models from shops like Mouriadis or Sevastakis, I’d run down to Athens to look at them in the shop window and draw them in my notebook, in full detail. That was how I started drawing. And so shoes became a fetish. I go crazy when I see a woman with nice calves. Shoes are one of the first things I notice. High heels drive me crazy. P.S. Fivos Sakalis, Gynaika, June 2006
1994, 80 × 65 cm, mixed media
1993, 80 × 65 cm, mixed media
1993, 120 × 150 cm, mixed media 403
1993, 110 × 70 cm, mixed media
1994, 120 × 90 cm, mixed media
1994, 60 × 120 cm, mixed media 404
405
1994, 95 × 85 cm, mixed media
1994, 82 × 65 cm, mixed media
The painter, having already acquainted himself with a particular use of surfaces, develops his narrative using pieces of real leather, on which he arranges memories from cherished and beloved scenes and images. Olga Mentzafou-Polyzou, Stories, big or small, 1999
406
1994, 80 × 65 cm, mixed media
1994, 128 × 192 cm, oil on canvas
407
His encaustic technique encourages him to be direct, instinctive, and warm. Leather is often the most suitable surface to receive his nostalgia. The uneven outline is nailed to wooden boards. The work of art becomes an object. Manos Stefanidis, As an antidote to nostalgia, 1996
‌ and then the artist himself, small and insignificant at first, gradually reaching manhood from within a multitude of pairs of shoes, which remain symbols of female elegance and charm, but also of eroticism. Olga Mentzafou-Polyzou, Stories, big or small, 1999
1993-94, 90 Ă— 75 cm, mixed media 408
1993, 138 × 200 cm, mixed media 409
In some paintings, the young boy is holding a hammer, nailing soles. In others, he squeezes between the legs of beauties, literally at their feet, deep in a forest of pink flesh − Eden is densely planted with women’s calves. In others, the son-apprentice traces on a piece of cardboard the imprint of the customer’s foot to take its measurements: his first nude will be this clumsily diligent tracing of the female sole. Cecile Inglessis Margellos, This is not a pump, 2014
1993, 160 × 120 cm, mixed media 410
1993, 90 × 75 cm,
mixed media, Trying on high heels at the shoemaker’s. 411
My father was a cobbler. He was born in Smyrna at the start of the 20th century. P.S.
1994, 60 × 60 cm, oil on canvas
412
1994, 60 × 60 cm, oil on canvas
1994, 50 × 36 cm, watercolour on paper
1993, 50 × 36 cm, watercolour on paper
1994, 50 × 50 cm, oil on canvas
1994, 50 × 50 cm, oil on canvas
I made my first drawings at home while I was still young, like all children with a talent for painting. However, my “professional drawings” I made at the age of eleven and twelve, when my father would send me to the shop windows of the sellers for women’s shoes to copy pumps in full detail, the “suede ones” or the “patent leather pair in the second line from the left”, because a lady customer had ordered them from him. P.S.
413
1993, 15 Ă— 31 cm, pencil on paper
414
1994, 127 Ă— 110 cm, encaustic on leather
1994, 132 Ă— 115 cm, encaustic on leather
415
1995, 117 Ă— 113 cm, encaustic on leather
416
1995, 103 Ă— 96 cm, encaustic on leather
1995, 105 Ă— 99 cm, encaustic on leather 417
2005, 90 × 70 cm, oil on canvas
2005, 90 × 70 cm, oil on canvas
2006, 70 × 53 cm, acrylic on canvas
2005, 120 × 80 cm, oil on canvas
2007, 70 × 55 cm, acrylic on canvas
2005, 90 × 70 cm, oil on canvas
418
Then, quite naturally, the painted pumps are replaced by real shoes of that time. These are objects that are almost museum worthy; destined for an imaginary museum of desires. Manos Stefanidis, As an antidote to nostalgia, 1996
2005, 90 Ă— 70 cm, oil on canvas 419
1996, 14 Ă— 18 cm, egg tempera on parchment
420
2011, 60 × 90 cm, acrylic on canvas
421
2005, 35 × 45 cm, acrylic on canvas
422
The fetish of the pump has undergone a mutation. It has become a geographical fetish. Samios knows how to handle modern narrative techniques. Manos Stefanidis, As an antidote to nostalgia, 1996
2009, 30 Ă— 30 cm, acrylic on canvas
2008, 40 Ă— 40 cm, acrylic on canvas
423
2005, 25 × 30 cm, oil on canvas
2005, 25 × 30 cm, oil on canvas 424
2005, 25 × 30 cm, oil on canvas
2005, 25 × 30 cm, oil on canvas
2005, 25 × 30 cm, oil on canvas
2009, 25 × 30 cm, oil on canvas 425
1995, 32 × 24 cm, oil on canvas
1995, 32 × 24 cm, oil on canvas
2004, 43 × 31 cm, oil on canvas 426
Under Samios’s direction, the pump, the quintessential female – either in inverted commas or not – shoe, is exhibited as an obsession on the verge of delirium. Thanasis Moutsopoulos, In the end, she was left alone..., 2006
2008, 50 × 40 cm, acrylic on canvas 427
… every thematic unit is emotionally charged with the artist’s love of life; his love of little, everyday stories; his love of time whose memory may be summed up in a little, red, beloved transistor radio without batteries on which the painter would try to listen to opera. The transistor radio, or any other object, such as the pairs of pumps or the handbags which are often contained and repeated in Samios’s paintings, are the symbols of a time, a situation, a feeling. Olinka Migliaresi Varvitsiotis, Traces on time, 2007
1997, 135 × 75 cm, acrylic on canvas 428
2003, 60 × 40 cm, acrylic on canvas
429