‘A Paler Shade of White’ on display in Fira on Santorini
I would never have thought of any possible connection between the landmark 1983 movie «The Big Chill,» the island of Santorini and contemporary art, but it turns out that just one song can link things that may seem totally unrelated. Hence, Procol Harum’s hit «A Whiter Shade of Pale,» a song featured in Lawrence Kasdan’s unforgettable movie, has provided the title (with a twist) to this year’s big exhibition at the nonprofit Loukas and Evangelos Bellonias Foundation in Fira on Santorini. «A Paler Shade of White,» an exhibition curated by art critic Iris Kritikou, explores the different shades of white through paintings, sculptures, constructions, installations, photographs and video works by 60 artists, both established and up-and-coming. At a recent presentation of the exhibition, which is due to open on August 8, Kritikou made a reference to Steven Weintraub’s study «The Color of White,» in which he concluded that black is not a color, saying that a black object absorbs all colors in one’s optical field and does not reflect any of them back to the observer. White, on the contrary, he argues, is a color, as it reflects all colors in the visible optical field onto the observer’s gaze. New policy This is the third large exhibition to be organized by the foundation, which has recently adopted a more outward-looking policy. The aim is to satisfy locals’ cultural needs as well as to also promote the island as an independent cultural tourist destination. The exhibition runs to the end of September. Bellonias Foundation, Fira, Santorini, tel 22860.24960-2.
