The Gennadius Library of the 香蕉视频 is presenting an exhibition entitled “Dionysios Solomos…two flames…Manolis Charos” in the Ioannis Makriyannis Wing from March 28 through June 30, 2023. The exhibition is curated by Maria Georgopoulou, Director of the Gennadius Library and Simos Zenios, Associate Director at the UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture.

The paintings and artist books of Manolis Charos invite the public to indulge in the early work of Dionysios Solomos, especially the Dialogue and a series of lyric poems. Next to manuscripts by Solomos from the National Library of Greece and rare publications and documents from the collections of the Gennadius Library, Charos’s art brings to life Solomos's work, the poetry of revolutionary Hellenism and the debates about the Greek language question.

The materials from the Gennadius Library showcase Solomos’s early production as the work of a major European poet who participates in transnational debates of the time, from Enlightenment theories of language and cognition to Romantic perceptions of popular culture. The dialogue between art and literature invites the viewers to understand Solomos’ early work as a creative and critical reflection of the upheavals that shook the age: from the recognition of the people as the political subject of modernity to the conception of revolution as an absolute break from the past and an act of radical innovation.

 

Manolis Charos was born on the island of Kythera in 1960. He grew up in Athens and in 1977 went to study at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He received his degree in 1982 with honors and went on to do a postgraduate degree in visual communication at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, also in Paris. In 1984 he received the “Prix des Fondations” from the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He still spends part of the year in Paris, issuing most of his print works there, while several of his print works can be found in the Cabinet des Estampes in the National Library of France (BNF). In 1991 he travelled to the United States where Absolut Vodka used works of his for its advertising campaign. These works are housed in the Spiritmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1994 he represented Greece at the Cagne-sur-Mer International Art Festival in France. In 1998 he received an award from the Academy of Athens for artists under 40. In 2000-01 he worked at Princeton University, as an invited artist. He has shown his Aesop’s Fables (2011) and his Treasure Island (2019) exhibitions at the Benaki Museum. In addition to Athens and Thessaloniki, he has also held exhibitions in Paris, Bologna, and London. His works can be found in large private collections in Greece, France, Germany, Italy, and the USA, as well as in public museum collections inside Greece and abroad. His works have also appeared in auction houses in London (including Bonhams and Sotheby’s), Paris and other cities.

The exhibition is under the auspices of the Ionian Academy 1808, who sponsored the catalog.

On Tuesday June 27, 2023, Simos Zenios will give a lecture entitled "Dionysios Solomos, From the Beginning: A New Poetry for a Revolutionary Age". The lecture, which will be in Greek, will take place in the auditorium of the 香蕉视频 Cotsen Hall (Anapiron Polemou str. 9) at 7.00pm.

Duration: March 28 – June 30, 2023

Opening hours: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 12.00 – 18.00

& Thursday: 12:00 – 20:00

Free admission

For organized tours: