Angelidis Nikos (1957)

Born in Athens in 1957, he studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts under P. Tetsis (1977-1982), and took courses in icon painting and fresco under K. Xynopoulos.
He presented his first solo exhibition at Nees Morfes in 1988. His work retains clear ties with the tradition of representational painting, from Byzantine and Renaissance art to the Pre-Raphaelites but also the surrealists (such as de Chirico and Magritte), while he is also inspired by architecture and the cinema. The precise rendering, the clarity and the attention to detail help bring the viewer into a poetic-imaginary space. The recurring presence of symbolic elements like children’s toys, forests, gardens and ships invests the works with a fairytale dimension where personal memories meet imagination and the dream. The female figures that dominate much of his painting are idealistically portrayed in architectural settings or natural landscapes, with the emphasis on clear lines and simple expression.
His subject range includes references to memory and time, deterioration, history, and art, dreams and travel. His painstaking architectural motifs, so prominent in his work, function sometimes as an atmospheric settings and sometimes as a core subject. The colours he employs, usually oil on canvas, are earthy and warm to underscore the dreamlike mood and the nostalgic atmosphere.
In addition to his artistic work he has taught in secondary education and illustrated books.
He has presented his work in eight solo exhibitions and in many group shows in Greece and abroad (UK, USA, Germany, Turkey, Cyprus) — indicatively: “In Praise of the Olive Tree”, Academy of Athens (2004); “Aspects of writing, signifiers of landscape”, Municipal Gallery, Chania (2007); “Birthplace”, Benaki Museum, Athens (2007).