When paintings turn to words
Words that become images and images that weave a story: This is the idea behind a «10+1 Adventures in the World of Painting,» a small, imaginative publication addressed to children and recently published by the Zoumboulakis Gallery for Social Support, a Greek association of humanitarian goals that specializes in work for disabled children. In the book, 11 paintings, each by a contemporary Greek artist, are illustrated next to a small text that art historian and independent curator Iris Kritikou wrote in collaboration with the artists. (The artists are Yiannis Adamakis, Dimantis Aidinis, Giorgos Avgeros, Christina Dara, Sofia Kalogeropoulou, Christos Kehayioglou, Yiannis Kottis, Haris Lambert, Achilleas Papacostas, Edouardos Sakayan and Maria Philopoulou.) The combination of text and images is meant to open up the world of painting to youngsters but also triggers the imagination of their elders. A question that is posed at the end of each story adds a participatory role in reading and interpreting paintings and makes children feel more familiar with the art form. The paintings that Kritikou has chosen differ both in style and content, yet the stories told all seem to revolve around social and human values. The importance of solidarity and friendship comes up repeatedly and is contrasted with loneliness and antagonism. In one of the 11 paintings, the story told comes from a Greek folk tale. «The Song of the Bridge,» which supplements a painting by Sofia Kalogeropoulou, tells the story of the young maiden who was sacrificed so that the renowned bridge in Arta could be built. Some paintings are hard to weave a story around, yet Iris Kritikou has done an excellent job, not just in imagining a story, but also in narrating it and in making the paintings come alive in the imagination of both children and adults.
