Sianti Gallery on Friday 16 February 2024 opened the solo exhibition of Sofia Fotiadou entitled “Out of the box_Fearless”. It is an exhibition, where she explores human subjects rendered with another original painting language: the choice between (the “appearance” and the “being”) rationality and irrationality, the issues of truth and desire but also its taming and above all the spiritual quality of human existence. The enigmatic world of Fotiadou is made up of wonderful and strange, undeniably peculiar figures, who move between the past and the present.

This hyper – realistic but masterful presentation of these fictional characters is passionately defended by the professor of history of Western Art, Yiannis Kolokotronis, who also curates the exhibition: “… In the timelessness of art, which today is defined by digital technology, the past is constantly present and Fotiadou’s works are recommended for holistic readings. Based on this reflection, Sofia’s new painting unit entitled “Out of the box” ‘old masters’ is developed. Portraits of ‘great’ masters of the past feed her imagination to weave a narrative that extends beyond the canvas. Not as a simple exploration of the symbiotic relationship between fashion, culture and economy that shaped the identity of places and times, but as a modern and demanding representation of coded emotions, moods and states of being imposed by our time.”

After all, Sophia’s works are a combination of realistic description and surreal fantasy, ultimately demonstrating her desire to transcend the conventional boundaries of representation. The eye that has replaced the head gives the viewer a reason to treat it as much more than an organ of biology. That is why the curator of the exhibition emphasizes that eye contact allows or forbids people to violate each other’s boundaries or not: “… In an age when the image dominates as never before and the value of the gaze is increasingly questioned and more, our gaze makes us who we are.

For antiquarians, the painted eyes on either side of the ships’ bows were apotropaic. For mystics the ‘third’ eye opens the way to self knowledge. For the religious, the eye of God on the church icons watches over without intervening. For futurists, eye enhancements blur the organic from the synthetic. For authoritarian politicians the omnipresent eye of the camera constantly surveils and controls, encroaching on privacy and human autonomy. All magnified nowadays, especially by social media that reshapes our lives on the basis of illusions and doubt. “Ultimately, utilizing the vast tradition of surrealist iconography as well as the idiosyncratic creatures or benevolent monsters of an Archibold, a Hieronymus Bosch or a Salvador Dali, Sofia Fotiadou with knowledge and a special color sensitivity sets up her completely special personal world with creatures that yearn for a lost paradise or dream of a new one.

In her painting, both classical painting values and a very modern perspective of things coexist. In other words, the elegant sometimes humorous and sometimes melancholic view of things as they could be..