MOUNT ATHOS

"The works with the theme of Mount Athos show in many ways the significance of Papaloukas' relation to the Greek espace, both natural and man-made. The lie of the land on Mount Athos, as well as the monasteries, hermitages, cloisters, monk cells and boatyards, with their complex architecture, colours and ornamentation, offer many varied challenges to the artist and will become the field where he plays out his artistic pursuits in terms of light, colour, form and composition, structuring the canvas according to principles and teachings belonging to late 19th and early 20th century Modernist movements. At the same time, he systematically studies Byzantine art, thereby broadening his horizons, exercising his gaze and thought processes and further fortifying the artistic arsenal he had acquired during his studies at European art schools. This gives him the impetus to arrive at certain principles of modern art, via other routes. In an original manner, Papaloukas takes advantage of his invaluable experience he gained of the interplay between Byzantine art and the messages of Modernism, by taking on, a few years later, the monumental work of executing the iconography of the Amfissa Church of Annunciation."   -APHRODITE KOURIA, 2003

"I think that of all the painters of his generation, Papaloukas is the most 'teacherly' in the sense of the teacher in whose work a series of conclusions are encoded. It is not merely the issues that preoccupied the Post-Impressionists, mainly Seurat, but also the plasticity of the Byzantine hagiographers and Ravenna mosaicists. I rediscovered these elements upon viewing Papaloukas' work. The near obsessive pursuit of form, the immediacy, the deeply chromatic sense of design are vividly conveyed to us without spoilage and the influences of Art Nouveau that beleaguered his generation and left signs of wear and tear even on Parthenis. Papaloukas' works strike me as a precious gem that remains untarnished, retaining its brilliance in all times. His lesson goes beyond mere technique and this is why it is very difficult to apply without his passion. He does not propose a painting technique, but in-depth research. This is the element, I think, that makes him timely." Dimitris Mytaras, 1976

"Of all the Greek painters of his generation -of the generation that reacted against Impressionism- Spyros Papaloukas remains the most 'painterly'. Painterliness, the natural passion of the painter for colour and light, saved him from crashing into the reefs of quaintness that an artist will always find when he wants to assign more weight to a drawing than it can carry on its own. Behind his lines and analyses, which were more mysterious and mystical than rational, there was a human heart brimming with enthusiasm and a firm vision. If we add the piety of hand to these basic virtues, we will see why his oeuvre will gain ground as time goes by."

A breath of freedom is what distinguishes our times. Art's demand is to express the present as well. The craftsman may be rooted in tradition. This, however, should not keep him from having his say in the present. Our times have made many conquests in all fields. But they suffer from the drama that they are fragmented times. For the contemporary artist, the following need arises: after having analysed and studied the elements of modern reality, to recompose them, recasting reality, in order to reconnect them. The study of traditional works benefits the young artist. But it should not enslave him and keep him perceiving his times. The study of nature is a basic prerequisite for the sincere, dedicated artist. It is essential in understanding and explaining the forms of Byzantine tradition. He must know, that is, the starting point of Byzantine craftsmen when they interpreted a  certain natural form in a certain way, finding which observations and which study it was based on. This frank and honest study of nature and the laws of painting is an act of Christianity. It is not the mere devotion to traditions...

Papaloukas is the Greek artist with the closest affinity to the Nabis: bold compositions with intense simplification of form, and non-realistic colours, aggressive in their brightness, and extremely decorative compositional elements. The painter finds justification in the distortions, in the mapping arrangement of the motifs and in the pronounced elisions with Byzantine art. He is, in any case, closely linked to the precedent set by some members of the Nabis group, particularly Ranson. Later he goes beyond all the Greek painters of his generation. He bases the overall morphology of his oeuvre in stylistic references to Byzantine and even classical Greek tradition, despite the clear and undisguised modernity of many of his works. Herewe have a reversal of stereotypes similar to that of Parthenis.