Mythological Eve in Modern Vision, at Roussetos Painting Exhibition
Heraklion is a city that boasts a rich artistic heritage, with many artists drawing inspiration from mythology, history, and local traditions. For an artistic experience in the city center, we suggest you to visit Basilica San Marco, (Vasilika Agios Markos) which houses the Municipal Art Gallery. Here you can browse an extensive collection of artwork that will undoubtedly feed your mind and soul.
On a beautiful March afternoon, we visited the exhibition of Roussetos Panaiotakis, the famous local painter, which appeared interesting from the entrance poster.
We discovered a complex, versatile artist, combining the classic-modern styles, in an original and personal way, sometimes even extravagant. His paintings carry philosophical symbols and meanings, transforming the ancestral myths into objective reality and "capturing" the collective mind in scenes full of fantasy and subtle humor.
In front of his paintings, the viewer acquires a new vision; The impressive mythological scenes with the Knossos Palace, the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, the Gods, the Kings, the Heroes, the Humans, and their transient works, become an imaginary bridge to the past, a message for the present and a moment of reflection for the future.
The exhibition centerpiece depicts a life scene from the Knossos Palace, painted in an iconographic style, with features, details, and firm color. As the artist confessed, the work was completed after two years of documentary research at the museums of archeology and history in Athens and Heraklion, and six other months of painting work. Using scientific evidence, Roussetos faithfully reconstructed the architecture and decorations of the palace, the clothing, and ornaments of women and men, and the pots with food and offerings.
With Roussetos, we entered a universe in which the ancestral memory, the historical sources, and the current reality suddenly met. Not only as a graphic form but especially through its intellectual, emotional, and spiritual content, his work represents an ode to the primordial and immortal values of existence: nature, peace, beauty, love, and life.
If you're in Heraklion, make sure to visit the Municipal Art Gallery's exhibition. It's worth your time!
