Athens 1954

Alekos Kontopoulos made this painting of Athens with what looks like oils, and a clear love for turning architecture into an almost abstract puzzle. The painting is all about how shapes bump into each other. There's this great mix of warm and cool tones – the reds and browns feel like baked earth, while the grays and blues hint at shadows and cooler breezes. The paint looks pretty thin in places, letting the canvas peek through, but then he’ll lay down these thick, confident strokes that really define a line or edge. There's this one spot, near the bottom, where a street lamp stands out against the fragmented buildings. It's a simple shape, but it anchors the whole composition. It's a reminder that even in the midst of chaos, there's a still point. It makes me think of Giorgio Morandi, who was making still lives out of bottles around the same time, simplifying form and structure. Like him, Kontopoulos shows us how much feeling can be found in just a few well-chosen shapes. It’s all about seeing the world in a new way.