ART ISLANDS: Hydra-Panagiotis Rappas

Despite his position in the international film world, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science voting member, Panagiotis Rappas’ work as a visual artist is much less known. During his studies in painting and engraving in Hanover, Panagiotis Rappas accidentally came into contact with the medium of film, setting him out on his career as Layout Supervisor, Sequence Director, Storyboard Artist, Creative Director, Director, Animator and Producer.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Panagiotis Rappas’ Archive

The solo exhibition of Panagiotis Rappas  “The cats of Panagiotis Rappas are coming back in Hydra” is a tribute to women. The cats by the artist are inspired by mythical and historical famous women of Greek history, some known but the majority of them has been ignored from the history. Drawn on watercolor or rice paper in the known style of the artist, who all these years has been working systematically and professionally on animation, with great success and international awards. His portraits balance between comics and reality. His women-cats are: sensitive, fragile, dynamic, sweet, happy, unhappy, angry… each  one has, her own personality, like the women in the course of history. “The cats” is a body of work that started before the quarantine, evolved within it and maps the human geography of our country- Greece- that in recent years has been in the transition of multiple crises, the biggest one the crisis of the human relations, where through the nearness of the human beings forced by quarantine and the self-confinement, lead us to distance, domestic violence, gender violence, femicides and also the crisis of the family institution. Topics that are at the center of interest and examined by the tribute to the woman organized by K.E.D.Y. That is why ABIA, ANDROMACHE, ARIADNE, HARMONY, ELPINIKI, EUDOXIA, EUPOLIA, KELAINO, MYRTH, PASIPHAE and all the other women-Cats of Panagiotis Rappas, like the women of Judy Chicago in “The Dinner Party”, will co-exist for two weeks at the Municipal Market of Hydra in order not to emphasize their differences, but their similarities, uniting us all for a good cause, since the proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Kouloureion Hospital of Hydra.

The exhibition held with the support of K.E.D.Y.

Media Partner: Art Views

Photo: Panagiotis Rappas, from left to right: ΑΡΙΑΔΝΗ, ΑΡΜΟΝΙΑ, ΠΑΣΙΦΑΗ, 2020, Watercolor on paper, © Panagiotis Rappas, Courtesy the artist

Info: Curator: Efi Michalarou, Municipal Market of Hydra, Hydra Island, Greece, Duration: 5-21/8/2022, Days & Hours: Daily: 10:00-12:00 & 17:00-21:00