Starting this Friday, March 28, and for two weeks, art lovers will have the opportunity to experience Moonlight Sonata, the much-anticipated solo exhibition of Greek sculptor Apostolos Fanakidis at the Athens Municipal Gallery.

A recipient of first prizes at the Budapest Sculpture Biennale (1981) and the Kalamaria Panhellenic Competition in Thessaloniki (1982), Fanakidis’ work has been showcased in major modern art museums, prestigious galleries, and private and institutional collections across Europe and the United States. His sculptures and installations also adorn public spaces in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, and the U.S.

In Moonlight Sonata, visitors will encounter Fanakidis’ creations from the past fifteen years. Curated by art historian Christophoros Marinos, the exhibition opens with a striking large-scale portrait of Constantine P. Cavafy, one of Greece’s most distinguished 20th-century poets.

Dubbed the “poet of the vulnerable self,” Cavafy is portrayed with stark simplicity—free of unnecessary iconographic embellishments. The charcoal drawing, mounted on a white-painted wooden panel, renders his face in an abstract, almost elusive manner. His eyes and mouth remain undefined. “It’s not necessary,” Fanakidis explains. “When you create from memory, you don’t see things clearly. You don’t focus on details. What matters is the spiritual essence of the person.”

The exhibition’s title, Moonlight Sonata, draws inspiration from the celebrated poem by Yannis Ritsos, which earned him his first Greek State Poetry Award. Marinos elaborates: “Fanakidis equates the artistic act—the process of creation—with the dream state. In his library, Ritsos’ Moonlight Sonata (1956) awaits discovery. There, the poet—perhaps not coincidentally—describes the ‘bright moon’ as ‘a hole in the skull of the world,’ ‘a magnetic force that pulls you in,’ ‘a marble well,’ warning us not to gaze into it lest we fall in. Perhaps this is how light functions in Fanakidis’ work—emerging from a darkness so profound, it becomes almost impenetrable.”

Exhibition Details

  • Opening: Friday, March 28, at 7:00 PM (Free admission)
  • Duration: March 28 – April 11
  • Visiting Hours:
    • Tuesday–Saturday: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
    • Sunday: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
  • Location: Athens Municipal Gallery, Leonidiou & Myllerou, Metaxourgeio