Fikos

Fikos was born in 1987 in Athens where he still lives. From a young age he painted whatever he saw around him, such as comics, landscapes icons and more.

At the age of 13 he started studying Byzantine painting under the guidance of George Kordis, with whom he also collaborated professionally for 5 years painting murals in Orthodox churches, while at the same time developing his own personal painting style.

The themes of his painting, both religious and secular, emanate from the Orthodox Christian tradition and ancient Greek mythology respectively.

In terms of technique, his portable icons are painted using egg tempera on handmade Japanese paper which is glued onto wood, and his murals are painted in acrylics.

Having a background as a graffiti artist and an iconographer in Orthodox Christian churches, Fikos is continuing his developmental journey by painting murals in public places. The value of these works is exceptional, because it is the first time that the monumental byzantine technique meets a contemporary movement such as street art.

The themes of the murals are related to the places where they are painted, but also didactic. Fikos’ mural paintings are not just another artist’s “self-expression”, but a social event a true “creation” (“demiurgia” = demos “citizens” + ergon “work” – a work for the citizens-society)

Besides Greece, his work has been exhibited in France, Bulgaria, England, Ireland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Norway and Mexico, in exhibitions and museums, television and radio and in private and public places.

Fikos’ dream is the popularization and recognition of contemporary Greek painting at an international level, not as a nostalgic accomplishment of the past, but as a contemporary universal event.

From the mystical character of the Cycladic idols, the linear substantiality of the Ancient Greek vases and the monumental character of the Byzantine murals, right up to the accomplishments of contemporary artistic movements such as modernism and street art, Fikos redefines the relationship of the Byzantine tradition with modern society, creating that which conventionally will be called “Contemporary Byzantine Painting”.