Interview with Theodoros Markellos on art and the Athenian scene

Markellos was born in Athens in 1925. In 1952, he received his diploma from the Athens School of Fine Arts (A.S.K.T.), a democratic character, which concerns expression and classes. And furthermore, perhaps the artist must create a bridge and span the chaos that opens up between the geometric progress and the increasing development of technical civilization and the spiritual and philosophical development of our era, which advances at a rapid pace. And in response to our question, whether aesthetic results should be pursued in a work of art and whether the pursuit of beauty can be considered an "anti-artistic" event, the painter told us: "No, one should not pursue aesthetic results. I believe that the pursuit of beauty is an 'anti-artistic event,' because this pursuit, in fact, stifles emotion, without which it is impossible for an aesthetic result to exist. I do not reject beauty as a result, but rather as a pursuit."
We asked the painter how he views artistic activity in Athens. He told us: “Athens has evolved into a large and rich reality and could foster a much greater artistic movement in the field of the Visual Arts. It could even develop into an artistic center, since it possesses artistic talent that is qualitatively at a very high level compared to the European and generally the global artistic reality. But, unfortunately, in Athens, the conditions are unfavorable for artists who do not belong to organized interests and do not have powerful patrons. Most of the Greek galleries in Athens consist of closed groups that literally pursue their friends, and this, without being driven by a lack of critical assessment, but unfortunately only by self-interest. They have enlisted the daily and periodical press, which is usually informed about artistic activity and related reporting, by irrelevant people who marginalize artists who are not bound to them and do not belong to their circles. Not only the general public, but also art lovers, who more often follow artistic exhibitions, are swayed by the activity of certain galleries and do not know the true artistic reality, nor the worthy artists who, however, do not have the opportunity to show their work. In addition, something else happens: An Athens with 50 or 60 galleries should not disappear. While the number of real galleries remains always minimal, Athens has filled up with shops that call themselves galleries and sell tasteless trinkets for the naive. The fact that these shops exist and multiply shows, apart from a few exceptions, the aesthetic level of our public.”

Here ends the conversation with the well-known painter Theodoros Markellos. The modest artist strives to create a personal work, struggling under the anti-artistic conditions of Athens, which have created certain selfish interests. Unharmed is the inner life, expressed as value and as endurance, within his visual artwork.

GIORGOS IOANNIS