Stamatis’ pastels are a unique effort among the Orthodox iconographers to evoke and elicit the byzantine artistic view through the medium of pastel. The color effect of these pastels is very close to the natural dry pigments. Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. These portrayals show that the byzantine art is not limited in its potential. Stamatis pastel crayons (from pure powdered pigments) vigorously capture various human psychological moments. The pastel medium was first mentioned by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495. During the 18th century the medium became fashionable for portrait painting, sometimes in a mixed technique with gouache.

Saint Spyridon, Pastel by Stamatis Skliris

An Elder, detail, Pastel by Stamatis Skliris

Anonymity, Pastel by Stamatis Skliris

Anonymity, Pastel by Stamatis Skliris

Portrait and Genuineness

You could say that nowadays our faces are copies of one another, and that all of us are copies of the general models of fabricated [false] life. A perfect example are the stars of Los Angeles. Similarly, the faces painted by contemporary iconographers are poor models (falsely referred to as "Byzantine") of an insipid, monotonous, and repellant repetition. These images portray an army of false saints, rather than unique and unrepeatable persons.

"Flame-Carrier Love", pastel on paper, Stamatis Skliris, 2019

"Flame-Carrier Love", pastel on paper, Stamatis Skliris, 2019
«ΠΥΡΦΟΡΟΣ ΑΓΑΠΗ», 87Χ64εκ., παστέλ σε χαρτί, 18-3-2019, π. Σταμάτης Σκλήρης

"THE TEENAGERS OF ATHENS"

"THE TEENAGERS OF ATHENS" started with the two little purple faces that my son Dionysios drew around 1989 as a third-grade student, and I continued playing with the crayons (without intending to make it a complete work) after many years and once (2014?) I added the Parthenon and the mountains of Athens (Parnitha) to make it more comprehensive.

"Soulish Rebetis of the Piraeus Port", pastel with glaring colors, Stamatis Skliris, 12-12-2023

"Soulish Rebetis of the Piraeus Port", pastel with glaring colors, Stamatis Skliris, 12-12-2023

"Young Rebetis", oil pastel, Stamatis Skliris, 12-22-2023

"Young Rebetis", oil pastel, Stamatis Skliris, 12-22-2023

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