The Hellenic American Women’s Council Great Lakes chapter will present Greece’s Modernists: Individualism, Expression & Form, a two-part online arts series that introduces four twentieth-century Greek artists through their approaches to form, color, material, and the human figure.
The series will be presented by Greece-based artist and educator Eleni Glinou, whose practice spans printmaking, painting, digital media, and interdisciplinary visual arts. Glinou previously taught at the University of West Attica and the Athens School of Fine Arts, and will place the artists in their historical and artistic contexts.
The program is designed for viewers interested in how modern Greek artists worked with both local traditions and broader artistic movements of the twentieth century.
The first session, scheduled for Saturday, June 20, will focus on Natalia Mela and Pepi Svoronou. Mela worked across metal, stone, and marble, drawing on subjects from nature, mythology, and everyday life.
The session will consider how she used those materials to create sculptural forms associated with movement, strength, and innovation. Svoronou developed a visual language shaped by color, texture, and abstraction, using painting to move beyond direct representation.
The session frames their work as two different paths through modern Greek art, one shaped by sculpture and material, the other by a more abstract visual language.
The second session, on Saturday, July 11, will examine Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika and Yannis Tsarouchis. Ghika approached landscape, architecture, and space through a modernist language influenced by Cubism and European avant-garde movements.
His work will be discussed through its attention to structure, rhythm, and composition. Tsarouchis drew from Byzantine art, Greek folk traditions, theater, and everyday life in his figurative paintings.
The session will look at how those influences shaped his approach to the human figure and everyday subjects.
Together, the two sessions present Greek modernism through individual approaches to material, place, tradition, and the human figure. The pairings give the program a clear structure while showing the range of work included in twentieth-century Greek art.
The program is part of HAWC’s broader cultural and educational work. HAWC is a national, nonpartisan network founded in 1992 to support Hellenic American women through leadership, education, cultural programming, and civic engagement.
Both Zoom sessions begin at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. A donation is requested upon registration at https://tinyurl.com/modern-artists, and the Zoom link will be sent to participants after registration.