A Las Cinco en Punto de la Tarde 

Nikias Skapinakis created ‘A Las Cinco en Punto de la Tarde’, which translates to ‘Five in the Afternoon’, an artwork that evokes the tension between the brutal spectacle of bullfighting and its deep cultural roots. Skapinakis was born in Athens in 1931. The painting, in bold reds and yellows, abstracts the key elements of a bullfight: the bull, the matador, and the arena itself. The shapes are solid, almost architectural, yet they convey the drama and danger inherent in the ritual. The title, borrowed from a poem by Federico García Lorca, adds another layer of meaning. Lorca's poem, a lament for a fallen bullfighter, speaks to the tragic beauty and inevitable death that permeates the corrida. Skapinakis captures this sentiment, not through direct representation, but through a stark, emotional landscape. The painting resonates with a history of cultural identity, class, and masculinity and reflects the artist’s own engagement with themes of spectacle and mortality.