PRESS RELEASES
13 FEBRUARY 2024
"Yannis Moralis. A tour of Athens" Exhibition at the Athens International Airport

22/01/2024 – 31/07/2024  

The exhibition “Yannis Moralis. A tour of Athens” is the first collaboration between the Athens International Airport and the Yannis Moralis Laboratory. 

The aim of the exhibition is to introduce the passengers and visitors of the airport to the leading Greek painter, engraver, set designer and professor, who left an indelible mark on the country's visual arts.

Yannis Moralis, through his work, formulated a modern version of "Greekness" and incorporated elements of ancient and modern Greek culture, alongside the influences of European modernism.

His artistic pursuits, architectural compositions, artistic intervention in the public space and his contribution to the applied arts, made Yannis Moralis an emblematic creator of modern Greek art.

The main idea of the exhibition is to connect the Airport - the main gate to the city of Athens and to Greece - with the wider work of Yannis Moralis.

For this purpose, an enlarged model for a ceramic wall composition, created by the painter for the New Athens City Hall on Liossion Str., was installed in the exhibition space, depicting a fantastic timeless view of the city, in the style of Moralis. With the graphic separation of the main show from its shadows and the blue of the sky and the sea, the installation brings Moralis's draft to life and turns it into a three-dimensional setting for the visitor to discover.

The exhibition was designed exclusively for the Airport’s exhibition space "Art & Culture". The idea and curation were by: Christina Morali, Niki Dafni, Tasos Koutsouris, Angelos Moretis. AIA Coordination & Curating: Chara - Eleni Mitsotakis. Exhibition design: Spyros Nasainas, Graphic Design: Ritsa Anastasiadou Digital printing: Apolyto Creative Spot.

Yannis Moralis was born in 1916 in Arta. Very early, still a child, his talent for painting became apparent. At the age of 15, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts. Studies in Rome and Paris follow. In 1939 he returned to Greece and became an artistic man in a period when the war suspended all activity. At the age of only 31, he was elected professor, the youngest in the history of the School of Fine Arts. 

Throughout his creative career, He is constantly experimenting in his art, testing materials and techniques, continuing his formal searches. As early as 1950, his interest turns to the creation of monumental abstract compositions in the public space. He collaborates with well-known architects, ceramists, publishing houses, music composers, poets and directors, thus developing the means of expression that can capture his vision. From the narrative representation of his anthropocentric compositions, his art gradually settles into the sujestive and  minimal shape or symbol. His works are determined by poetic lyricism, serenity, symmetry and order. 

“My work is something like a journal made up from the emotions, the impressions, the memories and the quests of a lifetime…”
Yannis Moralis

The “Society for the study, research and promotion of modern-Greek art / Yannis Moralis Studio” is a non-profit society established in 2019, based in the artist’s studio in Athens.
The aim of the society is the study, promotion and preservation of the artistic work of Yannis Moralis as well as the promotion of cultural and artistic creation, and the awareness of the public regarding art and culture. 

The exhibition is located in the “Art & Culture” Exhibition Area of the Athens International Airport Main Terminal Building, Arrivals Level / Entrance 1 / Open on a 24hour basis, from 22/01 through 31/07/2024, entrance is free to the public.

 

https://www.jmoralis.gr

 

 


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