By Giorgos Mitropoulos

The Region of Crete and the Municipality of Heraklion are co-organizing the exhibition titled “Marginally Human”, running from July 12 to August 29.

Although he has presented his work in many cities abroad, Nikos Moschos has never shown it in his hometown—until now. The artist “returns” to Crete with what is, in essence, a retrospective, presenting his works at the Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion, in the Basilica of Saint Mark. The exhibition, held in his honor by the Region of Crete and the Municipality of Heraklion, will open on Friday, July 12.
The 40-year-old painter, steadfast in his devotion to painting, comes back to the place where he was born and took his first creative steps to present a series of works created between 2012 and 2019, now in Greek and foreign collections. Alongside them will be ten new works shown for the first time. In total, 46 works are on display, reflecting his artistic concerns over the past seven years and forming his distinctive painterly idiom.
Art historian Christoforos Marinos comments:
“Painting is, beyond a way of life, an ethical activity, and the works of Nikos Moschos reveal our relationship with the world. If we were to compile a vocabulary that conveys the aesthetics and feeling his works exude, the most representative words would be: ‘amalgam,’ ‘alloy,’ ‘maelstrom,’ ‘mishmash,’ ‘crucible.’ Moschos’ painting—a painting ‘at boiling point’—poses philosophical questions: about violence, humanism, coexistence. The clash of forms in his paintings is directly related to the concept of posthumanism, meaning it translates into a philosophical conflict over the future of humanity.”

A catalogue will accompany the exhibition, with texts by art historian Christoforos Marinos and James Wright, Emeritus Professor of Classical Archaeology.
Biography: Nikos Moschos was born in 1979 in Heraklion, Crete. He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1997–2003) and now lives and works in Athens. He has held six solo exhibitions: 2016 at SWAB Art Fair (Barcelona) with ENA Contemporary Gallery; 2014 at SWAB Art Fair (Barcelona) with ALMA Gallery; 2013 at Art Athina with Gallery Penindaplinena (Athens); 2012 at Xippas Gallery (Athens); 2010 at Galerie Theorema (Brussels); and 2007 at Ekfrasi – Gianna Grammatopoulou Gallery (Athens).
He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, including at the Benaki Museum (Athens, 2004, 2007, 2009), the State Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki, 2007), Art Athina (2005–2015), and internationally in Italy (Bologna 2003, Venice 2008, Rome 2009, Palermo/Museo Diocesano 2019, Genoa/Museo di Sant’Agostino 2019), Beijing (2008), Istanbul (2010), Brussels (2010, 2011), Vienna (2014), New York (2015), Berlin (2015), Szczecin – Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes (2019), and more.
He has created numerous works for book, CD, and magazine covers. His works are in the collections of the Benaki Museum (Athens), Sammlung-Schirm (Berlin), PTE Fine Arts (New York), Bernard Cheong Collection (Singapore), A. Krausser Collection (Dubai), and in other private collections in Greece and abroad.

Info
Municipal Art Gallery of Heraklion – Basilica of Saint Mark
Opening: Friday, July 12, 2019, at 19:00
Exhibition dates: July 12 – August 29
Opening hours: Monday–Friday 09:00–14:00 & 17:00–21:00; Saturday 09:00–14:00; closed on Sundays