‘Thanatos: Death Personified’ photographic exhibition coming to Sydney

·

Photographers Effy Alexakis and Yanni Dramitinos join with painter George Michelakakis to individually provide their personal introspective, interpretive visual offerings on the theme of death in an exhibition at The Shop Gallery located at 112 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe in Sydney.

Titled Thanatos: Death Personified, the exhibition will run from October 26 through to November 1 from 12 noon to 6pm daily.

Opening drinks will be on Saturday, October 28, 4-6pm, followed by a special ‘in conversation’ event on Sunday, October 29, featuring Professor Vrasidas Karalis with writer George Alexander discussing their recent experiences of death. Author and lawyer Effie Carr will mediate the session, which will run between 4-6pm.

Within the exhibition, the works of all three artists capture the known to mediate upon the unknown and arguably the unknowable. Some aspects may shock visitors, some may entice deep engagement, faith, and re-evaluation, others may enforce disillusionment or an intimate foreboding of what may await. What it is to be alive, knowing Thanatos (death) awaits us all? What is it to have been alive, but no more.

Death-mask-Grave-Circle-A-Grave-IV-Mycenae-Peloponnese-Greece-16th-century-BCE.-Photo-Effy-Alexakis-scaled.
Effy Alexakis. 1. Death mask, Grave Circle A, Grave IV, Mycenae, Peloponnese, Greece, 16th century BCE.

Alexakis’ work embraces a juxtapositioning of ancient Greek, Greek Orthodox and ancient Egyptian ritual, ceremony and human emotions, empathy and individual spirituality.

Exhumation-Sykea-Laconia-Greece-1985-Photo-Effy-Alexakis.
Effy Alexakis. 2. Exhumation, Sykea, Laconia, Greece, 1985.

Dramitinos dwells upon the physical and personally spiritual through his wonderings amongst the generations of gravestones in Sydney’s Waverley Cemetery, where the celebrated and uncelebrated in life lie indistinguishable from below, but recognisably different from above through their monuments of memory; this photographer utilises the silences between the tombstones, their forms and inscriptions to decipher attitudes to lives lived and death memorialised.

Yannis Dramitinos. Perfect Tease 1.
Yanni Dramitinos. Perfect Peace 1.
Yannis-Dramitinos-Perfect-Tease.
Yanni Dramitinos. Perfect Peace 2.
Yannis Dramitinos. Perfect Tease 3.
Yanni Dramitinos. Perfect Peace 3.

Michelakakis evokes the socio-political effects of institutionalised religion upon individuals and society and the face and understanding of death if one considers the ‘death’ (absence/non-existence) of a personified God.

George-Michelakakis-photo-Effy-Alexakis-holding-one-of-his-works-titled-Ephemeral-scaled.
George Michelakakis holding one of his works titled ‘Ephemeral’. Photo: Effy Alexakis.

Life is not possible without death. Human kind is mortal. But is it a cycle of birth death and rebirth? Or does death annihilate life, totally – does it lead to nothingness? Plato and Aristotle theorised about the immortality of the soul, and religious traditions consider that life does exist beyond death. But since the Enlightenment, rationalism has cast God and religion into the abyss of the irrational. Yet, the mystery of a ‘life’ beyond clinical death remains.

The exhibition wrestles with difficult concepts, questions and emotions. Those visiting will certainly be left with much to consider.

Thanatos: Death Personified, the exhibition will run from October 26 through to November 1 from 12 noon to 6pm daily.

greek film festival 2025

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Step into the world of mental health with Georgia Cassimatis’ latest book

Greek Australian author and journalist, Georgia Cassimatis, has released a book all about exploring the world of mental health.

GOCNSW Welfare Service to put a spotlight on cyber security awareness

The Greek Orthodox Community of NSW’s (GOCNSW) Welfare Service has organised three Cyber Security Awareness education and training workshops.

Marriage of a Greek woman abroad: What to watch out for

It is during this registration process that numerous problems arise, which are not dealt with immediately but later on.

Athena Competition Greek winners show olive oil diversity

By Lisa Radinovsky from Greek Liquid Gold. At the 10th anniversary edition of the ATHENA International Olive Oil Competition in Chania, Crete, Greece in May, 175 Greek olive oils...

Greece’s island communities face population crisis

The demographic decline in Greece is hitting its islands hard, with Lemnos and Agios Efstratios showing alarming signs of aging populations.

You May Also Like

Sydney Olympic FC secure victory over local rivals Rockdale Ilinden

Sydney Olympic FC secured a 3-1 victory over local rivals Rockdale Ilinden at Rockdale Ilinden Sports Centre on Sunday evening.

Bill introduced to deliver $905 million to taxi licence holders

The NSW Government has today introduced the Point to Point Transport Amendment Bill 2022 into Parliament which will amend the Point to Point Transport Act 2016.

PM Mitsotakis has packed diplomatic schedule for January 2020

The first month of the upcoming new year will see Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Greek government engaging in a number of diplomacy...