by Dr. Demetrios Konstantios Director of the Byzantine
and Christian Museum
The neologism of the title treads a fine line, particularly from a conceptual
point of view. It is an attempt to describe an abstractive iconography
that transcends the terms and boundaries of pictorial art. For, as far
as I know, we do not have a literal expression to denote painting that
abolishes boundaries but not shape, painting that is representational
when the explosion of colours permits. A few months ago, I had the pleasure
of seeing Omiros' painting for the first time. The
painting of a Greek born in Constantinople, who grew up artistically in
Paris and New York. His painting was an unexpected surprise. Modern visual
approaches to Byzantine art have disappointed me in recent years. They
are dominated by copying, dryness, absence of inspiration, poverty of
colour, and a lack of conviction in what the artist wishes to express.
On the pretext of doctrinal purity and a supposed fidelity to tradition,
Greece was filled with lifeless, depressing copies of Panselinos and Theophanis.
One rarely came across an initiative that to some extent broke the rigid
form, one in which expressions could - even for a little - speak and arouse
feelings of faith, love, awe or fear in the spectator. And for a moment,
I felt a breath of fresh air as I turned the pages of Omiros' first book
Byzantine Art, A Contemporary View. The familiar schemata of Byzantine
iconography were there. But the explosion of colour transformed the forms,
the movements were different, the expressions were elevated in the extreme,
with the paintbrush contorting and penetrating to make the colours explode:
main and supplementary colours that create rays, fabrics and flesh - not
through Byzantine abstraction, nor the abstraction of Malevich, but with
a dizzying expressionism. All this without losing the doctrinal truth
of the subject, now revealed with greater intensity, more clearly, in
a manner not achieved by the imitators of Kondoglou.
The paintings
themselves justify these thoughts, I believe. Let us examine the Christ
of 1975, a small painting. The yellow of the garment renders the Son of
God immaterial. The form exists, but the corporeality possesses something
of the divine, something beyond material reality. Omiros uses inversion
to change everything. The background is no longer gold, but red, with brushstrokes
of yellow, and the body turns to gold with a few brushstrokes of red. Everything,
simultaneously present and absent, hovers above a sea of colour. In the
Presentation of Christ in the Temple of 1976, all the elements of Byzantine
iconography are present. "A church and a ciborium, and beneath the ciborium
a table, and on this a gold censer and St Symeon Theodochos holding in his
arms Christ the infant, who blesses him; and the Virgin on the other side
of the table stretching out her arms to him; and behind, Joseph holding
the two doves in his garment", according to the Painter's Manual of Dionysios
of Fournas. Yet the explosion of cold colours on the warm red background
elevates the slender, willowy figures to another sphere. Large, yellow-green,
sparse brushstrokes form the body of Joseph, and at the same time dissolve
the outlines, without hindering the expression of reverence that is transmitted
clearly and intensely. In the
painting with Christ driving the buyers and sellers from the Temple, I was
completely captivated by the expressionist abstraction of Byzantine iconography.
A twisting white brushstroke forms Christ's body with the lash. The merchants,
dark or bright splashes of colour, flee "looking behind them in fear". Waves
of colour flood the painting, creating emotions, such as the anger of the
irate figure of Jesus and the fear in the faces and movements of those violating
the sanctity of the Temple. The dark red of the merchant in the middle distinctly
recalls a himation of El Greco, while the figure with raised arms calls
to mind Goya's figures in Execution of the Rebels of the 3rd of May, 1808.
In 1978, Omiros painted the same subject again, with fewer people but with
greater intensity. The large figure of Christ with the lash dominates the
three terrified merchants. Here the colour pulverises outlines and familiar
forms. Mauve, red and blue create a composition of incredible intensity.
Homer is not content to render an iconographic type just once. He paints
the subjects, once, twice, three times, and at different sizes. And each
time, different colours give a different dimension and expression to the
scene. In the
two versions of the Washing of the Feet of 1976, the blue-mauve of the background
is scored with brushstrokes of different colours to create an 'open' and
a 'closed' composition. In the Myrrophoroi (Women at the Tomb) of 1977,
colour comprehensively dominates the painting. The ethereal Christ with
his white dress stands in front of the two Maries. The movement of the paintbrush
infuses greater movement into the central figure, which is not static, despite
standing upright. Although the body is sketched in, corporeality has been
abstracted, while spirituality and faith are present. The same expressionist
abstraction can be seen in the Dinner at Emmaus of 1977. Although the three
figures familiar in the iconography are present, the colour transubstantiates
them, abolished their materiality and adding intensity to the movements
of Loukas and Kleopas, full of awe and astonishment. Leafing
through this book by Omiros, I feel moved to comment on every painting.
Unhappily, I can only make a few allusions to his superb art. I shall dwell
on a Helkomenos (Road to Calvary) of 1980. The austerity of its iconography
intensifies the power of the scene. The dominating presence of the large
wooden cross adds pain and agony to the bent figure of the Son of God. Thick
red paint, applied in rapid brushstrokes, forms a tunic that hints at a
human body which, while rendered immaterial, is still strong enough to face
the ineluctable Passion. Colour explodes in the paintings executed after
1981. I note
the Deesis and the Raising of Lazarus of 1984, in which the colours continue
to create abstract forms full of movement and rhythm. But the paintings
are dominated by a more intense paroxysm of colour paintings. Yellow and
red splashes, blue zigzags and mauve planes create incredible intensity.
The Transfiguration of 1984 is composed of large areas of colour applied
with a rapid brush. The Shining Christ is a white splash that sprinkles
the three terrified disciples with "unbuilt" light. In the paintings executed
from the 1990s onwards, the feast of colour continues, but the explosions
of it become less frequent. The paint, as rich and expressive as ever, now
becomes more solid, as can be seen in the two dreamlike Hodegetrias of 2001.
I gazed at Omiros' paintings for hours and allowed myself to be dominated
by the magic of the colour and the power of the abstraction, grafted with
the more faithfully Byzantine iconography. For Omiros has a sound knowledge
of Byzantine art, its technique, its style and its iconography. Yet he transcends
the technical aspect and holds on to the essence, which is the birth and
expression of feelings such as faith, love, pain, ecstasy and awe. He creates
harmonious compositions of unrivalled lyricism and moments of intensity
and passion. His figures are slender, ethereal, with small heads and short
limbs. He is not concerned with the space outside the scene, which is hinted
at symbolically, but with the expressivity of the main action and the intensity
of the dominating event. Colour is an absolute tool. Through it, he removes
superfluous details, composes volumes, creates movement and space. His places
are "unbuilt", dreamlike, essentially "non-places". Everything takes place
in an earthly environment, yet Byzantine spirituality is still present,
annihilating the delusion of materiality and alluding to the immaterial
and the divine. When
studying this painting, you do not seek for abstraction or representation,
since both are spontaneously present in a Whole that is completely expressive,
in which colour is the binding agent. It is a source of great pleasure to
me that the Byzantine Museum is playing host to paintings by Omiros, an
artist active on the international scene who is still unknown in his native
country. We dedicate this website to the memory of Dr. Demetrios Konstantios ( -2010) 
An
abstractive iconography
Athens, Greece
2008
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