Frissiras exhibition opens up new horizons in painting

When we are enveloped by darkness, art can be like an open horizon that has a healing effect on a personal and social level. At the same time, it allows us to see and assimilate the new. With this notion in mind, Vlassis Frissiras, founder of the museum of the same name, decided to call a trilogy of shows that starts this year and runs to 2018 “New Horizons in Painting.”

“Beyond the spiritual fulfillment experienced when looking at quality paintings, I would like to mention one more thing,” he says before giving me a tour of the first show. “The art of the brush is constantly being renewed, as artists are always struggling with the new and taking on new issues. Here we have 15 artists, aged 27 to 60, presenting more than 100 pieces that belong to the museum’s collection and reflect contemporary questions. In this sense, they are like a new window of light that merits exploration.”

Frissiras is well versed in spotting the fresh and the new. Since 2000, when he opened his muse- um, he has insisted on certain constant loves but also enriched the museum’s collection by constantly adding new artists, either through the competition he established or by scouting for talent at studios and fine art schools across Europe.

The first part of the “New Horizons” exhibition (to June) has been set up in themes, allowing for dialogues to be struck up between the works, even though they may be from different generations. The human figure and face are dominant themes, but we see the use of different materials, different approaches and different illustrative style. The participating artists are Teodora Axente, Norbert Bisky, Stephen Chambers, Viola Glowacka, Bogumil Ksiazek, Li Ji, Frederique Loutz, Marcin Maciejowski, Florian Merkel, Brann Renaud, Ewa Szczekan, Alexander Tinei, Verebics Agnes, Constantinos Vaviloussakis, Yiannis Ziogas, Christos Michaelides and Ismini Teligioridou.