Stelios Faitakis: Hell on Earth

Greek artist Stelios Faitakis (1976-2023) was a master of depicting modern subjects in a style reminiscent of Greek Orthodox icons. The distinctive and technically outstanding visual language of his paintings, skillfully combine the depiction of modern subjects with the influence of Byzantine, Russian, and Eastern iconic painting.

The trademarks of his work are the intensive use of the color gold and images of halos, which were prevalent in medieval painting styles. Faitakis’s perspectives are unsettling, his content provocative. Referencing numerous styles, his images juxtapose Medusa-headed giraffes with skateboarders riding waves of destruction or religious martyrs and bizarre gangsters with suffering lovers. Violence, death, and destruction lay siege to his apocalyptical landscapes. Stelios Faitakis, lived and worked in Athens and painted since he was a child, building worlds out of his images just as masterfully as he broke them down again. The richness of detail in his work can be seen in the context of Pieter Bruegel and Mexican mural art.

His powerful figurative technique took installation to a new level that showed how criticism of current social conditions can be combined with timeless spiritual intensity in innovative ways. After receiving his degree from the Athens School of Fine Arts, Stelios Faitakis exhibited his work in numerous successful shows around the world. Most notably, his large scale mural paintings received international accolades at the Athens Biennale in 2008, Art Basel Miami in 2009 the Venice Biennale in 2011, the Kiev Biennale in 2012, as well as for his permanent mural at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris.