Leading the way out of today's labyrinth

Ancient Greek labyrinths were complex structures, from which there was almost no escape. Yet according to legend, Theseus and Ariadne managed to find a way out using a simple thread.

Using this story as a metaphor to explain their work, 31 Greek artists have come to China share and exchange images and ideas.

Their story is told in Labyrinths, a show that aspires to bring together two ancient civilizations through contemporary art.

The exhibition includes comics, illustrations and graphic design, street art, sculptural installations and video installations, portraying significant aspects of Greek contemporary art.

"Beijing and Athens are all ancient cities, which have splendid culture and history. They surprise you, confuse you and charm you, just like labyrinths," says Niki Tzouda, one of the curators of the exhibition.

At the opening this month, five artists gave painting performances at 798 Art Space in Beijing where the exhibition is running until February 15.

Graffiti artist Stelios Faitakis, one of the five, drew mountains and trees in Chinese ink and wash landscape painting style. "Now that I am here in China, I want to put some Chinese elements in the exhibition," he says.

Born in Athens, Faitakis fell into art after high school. A somewhat withdrawn child, he found the idea of studying art as thrilling as his parents found it unwise.

He was involved in numerous public wall painting projects during his studies, including the surrounding walls of the "Elais" factory in Athens, August 2003.

Faitakis' works show his obsession with Japanese woodblocks, Byzantine frescos and Chinese gold color as well as ancient Greek history.

In describing the use of gold in his pieces, Faitakis explains: "In Chinese theory of chi, the universal force that is used to create and maintain life has a goldish color when it comes from the earth and a white/silver one when it comes from the sky.

"So, in my work, simple, ordinary colors co-exist with metallic, light-reflecting colors in one complete world.

"Street art is the modern mural and artists find a way to communicate with the public by intervening on their urban environment in an ephemeral way, since their art is open and vulnerable to the changes of space and time and to the people that meet it on their way through the city."

"Contemporary young Greek artists are inspired by the city landscapes and transform them in their own distinctive ways," Faitakis says.

"But I think keeping tradition of our country is the most important task for young artists."

Labyrinths presents four distinguished painters transferring the very essence of street art to an interior exhibition space.

The art of comics, a narration through a sequence of images, is another noticeable theme in the exhibition.

The exhibition presents many different aesthetic trends represented by 13 of the most important Greek comics artists that have exhibited or published their work in Greece and internationally.

In the field of illustration and graphic design, this exhibition presents the work of 10 significant creators, who give a unique aesthetic character and touch to many avant-garde magazines, books and other published material in Greece and abroad.

The Greek storm does not stop at the gallery.

Secret Supper, a contemporary dance performance presented by Since SineQuaNon, was staged in Beijing on Friday. The dance piece, featuring eight dancers and five musicians, revolves around a table. While the table serves as a pretext for the dancers to come into contact with each other, it is ultimately a source of energy, stimulating and organizing how the action flows around it.

(China Daily 01/22/2008 page19)