Omiros' comments on his Byzantine Work
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Upon his arrival in the United States in 1970, Omiros was asked to decorate a Byzantine Greek Orthodox Church. At this time, he was already aware of the necessity for an artistic renewal in the decoration of these churches. When he had executed murals in the past, the question of the theme was not an issue. In the decoration of a church however, the factor of theme was mandatory and imposed on him in a precise manner. Since he was a non-representative painter and felt the need to express himself in this manner, he had to agree to a compromise for the decoration of a church in a representative style. Conflicted about the form of expression which would be more appropriate in his religious paintings, he was besieged by doubt which made his endeavor difficult. He nevertheless decided to go forward in spite of this duality, developing a unique style reflected at first in his Byzantine works, and subsequently in other theme works such as the Greek Art and Mythology series. Omiros' work on the religious paintings has been published in 1983, in a book entitled: "Byzantine Art, A Contemporary View". This book is available upon request in the Your comments page. |