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and possibilities of photorealistic painting and constituting a hypothetical dialogue between the distinguished painter and teacher Yannis Santantonio and younger painters, as noted in the text by art historian and exhibition curator Spyros

Moschonas.

Works by the following painters are on display: Santantonio (Yannis), Iro Kanakaki, Miltos Skouras, Theodora Chaldaiou, Kyriaki Christakopoulou, Christos Christou

Art historian Spyros Moschonas elaborates concerning the painter Yiannis Santantonio and the exhibition:

“The invention of photography in the 19th century radically changed the perception of artists and the public as regards painting—namely, an ‘imitation’ of the visible world—the established ideal since the Renaissance and later as an element in academic tradition. Modernism, iconoclastic and subversive from its very inception, was not at all accomodating towards realistic representation—only during the interwar period did realism regain its significance, either as a means of criticism or as a means of propaganda.

In the late 20th century, the concept of realism—now reinforced by the use of photography and without hiding its connection to it—made a comeback in the work of certain artists. In 1969, in the U.S., the art theorist and dealer Louis K. Meisel coined the term Photorealism (or Photographic Realism) to describe a series of  monumental paintings based on photographs. In 1970, the term appeared in the catalog for the exhibition “Twenty-two Realists,” which was hosted at the Whitney Museum in New York, marking the institutional emergence of the fledgling movement. Drawing on the iconography of Pop Art and its love for the ephemeral and the everyday, reacting against the non-figurative tragedy of Abstract Expressionism and the austerity of conceptual art, disregarding the industrial frigidity of minimalism and reaffirming the idea of representation in painting, Photorealism (also known as Super Realism, New Realism, or Hyperrealism) soon  established itself as a movement with a social character.

In Europe, the emergence of a distinctly politicized Pop Art, originating in England, sparked a shift among many young artists towards representation. This shift was further reinforced by the fluid social and political climate of the 1960s, culminating in May 1968 in Paris, as well as by the radical ideas of Marxist intellectuals and their fierce criticism of postwar consumer society. Groups such as Equipo Crónica in Spain and the Berlin-based Gruppe Aspekt made their presence felt not only at the local level but also across Europe, thanks to a network of exhibitions that included private art galleries and institutional venues such as museums and art galleries. In Paris, at the same time the Figuration Critique movement emerged and, starting in 1978, the eponymous Salon (an annual exhibition), which continues to this day.

In Greece, the return to representation—and specifically to the idea of realism—coincided with the trauma of the April Dictatorship. Due to political upheaval and in conjunction with international developments (in particular the establishment of Pop Art), some young artists (mainly students of G.Moralis at the Athens School of Fine Arts) embraced critical realism, denouncing contemporary society and, implicitly, the regime of the Colonels. The best-known representatives of this movement were, undoubtedly, the members of the Young Greek Realists group (Yannis Valavanidis, Cleopatra Diga, Kyriakos Katzourakis, Chronis Botsoglou, Yannis Psychopedis), not to mention artists such as Ilias Dekoulakos and the younger Iro Kanakaki, Chrysa Voudouroglu, and others. 

Born in Athens in February 1943 and active primarily in Paris, Yannis Santantonio was one of these artists. In 1966, he was admitted to the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASKT), where he studied under G. Mavroidis, but in November 1968 he left the School and Greece to settle in Paris. Deeply influenced as he was by the political aftermath of May ’68, he quickly turned to critical realism. He used photography and chance street scenes, participated in numerous exhibitions, and established himself among the most consistent representatives of photographic realism, as a form of expression perfectly suited to conveying his social and political concerns. Upon his return to Athens in 1983, he continued to work in this style; however, his visual art did not meet with a corresponding response, as conditions in Greece had changed.

The proposed exhibition is being held at the initiative of the non-profit organization LIFE & ART in the hospitable spaces of Lofos Art Project. It aims to explore the impact of photorealistic painting on Greek art during the post-dictatorship era as well as on contemporary art. Taking Santantonio’s explorations as a starting point, it introduces a hypothetical dialogue between the master and younger painters who, defying the spirit of the times,persist in working with a sharp realism based on reality and its pictorial representation.

The exhibition will feature works by Santantonio juxtaposed with paintings by his contemporaries (Iro Kanakaki), younger artists such as Miltos Skouras and Kyriaki Christakopoulou, as well as very young painters (Theodora Chaldaiou, Christos Christou), who are committed to a time-consuming style of painting, emphasizing qualities such as precision, craftsmanship, and, above all, a critical view of the visible world. The works in the exhibition explore the boundaries and possibilities of photorealistic painting and raise the question of its place in the recent past as well as its essential presence in Greek art, at the dawn of the age of Artificial Intelligence.