Life is a Theatre - Michel Calliyannis

Opus 39 Gallery presents ‘Life is a Theatre’ by Michel Calliyannis

The exhibition will be opened by Mr Stelios Anastasiades, Managing Director of Telia & Pavla BBDO, Monday, 12 November 2018 at 7.30p.m.

DURATION: 12- 24 November 2018

‘Life is a Theatre’
This is how the curator of my recent exhibition at Chania, christened the exhibition. I hadn't thought of coming up with such a simple term. In other words, life is a series of experiences displayed as we go along. Memory and emotion develop in our minds as images and happenings, determined by our sensitivity. Life is a constant confrontation and we define the nature of a situation according to our state of mind. Therefore, a given situation is not always perceived the same way, although it may be basically the same as a previous one.

So indeed, life is much like a constant play. In fact, I worked in the past as a theatre designer and I've often thought that I could have dedicated my life to the theatre. I'm attracted to the humour and burlesque of the different patterns of our lives, the way they influence us. If I were a writer I would write the images I create in a way of short stories or reflections on life.

I'm not guided or tempted by any particular type or style of expression but I'm attracted and interested in artists, painters, and writers of any period, who address the subject of life, of existence and of its various expressions. I am also inspired by music - mainly Jazz - by its diversity and timelessness and because of its endless suggestive colours and tones. The titles I choose have metaphorical meanings. Yiorgos Seferis wrote: “It is not MY work that interests me in the first place. It is the WORK, with no specific reference to my name, that must live on, whatever my personal involvement”. Such a statement, expressed by a writer of a different era reflects my own general vision.

—Michel Calliyannis

Michel was born in Paris in 1954 and a few years later he moved with his family to Nice. At the age of sixteen, he started his art studies in the École des Arts Décoratifs. Later he was accepted in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he specialized in Etching and Lithography (1971-76). Michel Calliyannis has illustrated tales and stories. He's taught painting and drawing and has made various wall paintings in both interior and exterior decorations. He has exhibited his work (paintings / etchings / drawings) in Nice, Paris, England, Seoul (Korea), Bolivia, Dakar and in Crete from where he originates. Michel Calliyannis is the son of Manolis Calliyannis, the internationally acclaimed Greek painter.

Working Hours:
Monday 17.00-20.00
Tuesday-Friday 10.30-12.30 & 17.00-20.00
Saturday 10:30 - 12.30