Field research at the Benaki Museum (painting exhibition "Alexis Akrithakis : tsiki-tsiki")
"Alexis Akrithakis – tsiki-tsiki"
A unique route on visual trails
for the Students of the AUEB Teacher Education Program
Within the framework of the activities of the innovative action "Art and Education", which takes place in the winter semester of this academic year and will continue in the spring semester, the students of the Teacher Education Program of the Athens University of Economics and Business participated in field research in the painting exhibition "Alexis Akrithakis : tsiki-tsiki" in honor of the artist
Specifically, the second stimulus for the 'Art and Education' innovative action of this academic year was given on Wednesday 6/11/2019, when the students of the Program with the accompaniment of the scientific director Dr. Vassiliki Brinia and the Fine Artists Ms. Christine Panagopoulou and Mr. George Dritsas visited the Benaki Museum on Koumbari 1 & Vasilissis Sofia Street in Kolonaki, where the exhibition “Tsiki-Tsiki” takes place ,on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the birth and 25th anniversary of the death of the Greek painter, Alexis Akrithakis. While touring this fascinating exhibition, the students had the opportunity to see the works of the “tsiki-tsiki” series, which were mostly done from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s and while collaborating in groups, they observed the exhibits and discussed the multiple messages emanating from them, using Perkins’ method of the aesthetic observation of a painting by Project Zero of the Harvard School of Education.
This is the first organized presentation to the general public of the artist's self-titled series of works, dedicated solely to one of his most recognizable techniques, "tsiki-tsiki", as author Kostas Tachtsis typically called it in the mid-1960s. Kostas Tachtsis, as well as Alexander Iolas, were among the first to discern Alexis Akrithakis' talent and the dynamics of his particular artistic approach, giving the necessary space for his original art to flourish in the conservative Greek society of those days. The artist, by using only ink and paper , creates drawings as a statement of the turbulent political period in which he acted, while illuminating aspects of the Greek tradition that have been plundered because of modern life. His works resemble an instinctive play of a child filling a white paper with drawings, and he retains a sensitivity, presenting with optimistic notes even the most pessimistic expressions of life, filling time and white paper with musicality.
This unique artistic experience, which will continue to be exhibited at the Benaki Museum until November 17, 2019, gives the visitor the opportunity to discover his attitude towards the issues dealt with in these works by Alexis Akrithakis, giving him feelings and reflections on then and now.
76 Patission Str.
