Exhibition Dia-Chronos - Encomium of Shadow and Light | Manthos Gaitis

A sliver of light breaks the silence and reveals traces of existence
in the infinite and chaotic universe.
A glimmer of light will lay the foundations of the cradle of knowledge.
A ray of sunlight will reveal the contours of the mountains,
the diversity of green, color the tiled roofs,
and outline the petals of flowers.
A strip of light will caress the cheek of the young girl
but will also leave the imprint of its shadow on the opposite wall.
A beam of light will pierce the clouds, the wilderness
creating a palette whose pulse is conveyed
by a ray of flowing rose.
In these flickers of light, I seek the link between
the mortal element of shadow and the immortality realized by the chromatic iris.
In this way, I await the birth of a painting that will water
with its vitality the plants of tomorrow's blossoming, and I let the comforting fervor
of the shadow create a graceful harvest.

Manthos Gaitis

Manthos Gaitis was born in Athens in 1955, originally from Venardados, Tinos. He studied graphic design at A.T.O. Doxiadis and worked for about 10 years in advertising.

At the same time he studied painting from 1981 to 1986 at the Athens School of Fine Arts in the workshops of Kessanlis, Moralis and Mytaras. He held his first solo exhibition in Tinos in 1988, at the "Magazi" space of Bampi Regepopoulos and taught Visual Arts in the schools of the island from 1987 to 1994.

In the first years his works were anthropomorphic with a realistic character, while later he was involved in landscape painting with impressionistic influences.

His 2000 paintings are inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot and follow new paths with allegorical elements and symbolism.
In 2009 fascinated by Italo Calvino's work "Invisible Cities" he gave his own iconographic interpretation of the origin of the city and the village.
Since 2015 he has been studying the poetry of F.G. Lorka and P. Nerouda, creating works that emerge from their poetic discourse.

Nikolaou Gyzi 5, Chora Tinos Island Greece

Νικολαου Γύζη 5, Χώρα Τήνος, Κυκλάδες