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INTRODUCTION
Maria, the timid daughter of a
major-general and a graduate high school student in a Greek provincial town
at the end of the 1980s, is in love with her childhood friend and fellow
student, tumultuous Stella. Alarmed by small-town gossip, the major-general
hurriedly engages his daughter with a trusted subordinate officer. Straight
after graduation from high school she gets married and is swiftly dispatched
to Athens. Stella, violently separated from her beloved Maria, burns her
bridges and escapes to study in the colourful Netherlands. A chance meeting
between Maria and Stella seven years later in Amsterdam inside the Van Gogh
Museum, is where our story begins.
CONCEPT
A draft for a
contemporary tragedy or the storyboard for a film; the fragmentary story of
Maria and Stella by Angelos Spartalis is something of a contemporary
–slightly less elegant–Romeo and Juliet. Structured and numbered in the
manner of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and of the
unfinished poem “Woman of Zakynthos” by Greek national poet Dionysios
Solomos, this is not a compact, well-rounded rhythmical narrative. There is
no literary pretence in this anarchically illustrated hybrid Lesbo-Western.
All on your face!
ABOYT THE
WORK
I wrote Maria and Stella during the summer of 2021 in Crete, in my estate in
Vathy, near Agios Nikolaos. The philologist Elpida Grigoraki and the graphic
designer Manos Siganos offered valuable assistance. From its first draft
till its completed version, the book was read and commented on by a number
of friends (they also offered a lot of nonsense thoughts that I chose to
forget). I would like to thank Layia Giourgou, Irena Oikonomou, Amaryllis,
Annie Shiradze, Voula Kokolaki, Erato Kapetanaki, Evi Lazoura, Theodora
Samara, Nicholas Tavlas.
I illustrated the work while I wrote it, in a way that the images were often
the inspiration for the text rather than the opposite. Thus I found myself
in limbo between text and illustration, illustration and text, something I
found as amusing as the being on the seesaw or even more. I painted the
images with oil colours on Hahnemülle paper 310 gr or Royal Talens paper 240
gr size 30x40cm. Often the paper was prepared with acrylic sizing. All works
are signed at the back. Invaluable help during the illustration was offered
by Mara Apostolaki, Daniela Kazanu, Marianna Ghika, Nadia Spartali and
Demetra Spartali. The images were photographed by Giannis Bousdoglou and
Angela Svoronou.
In addition to all the treasured friends I already mentioned, I also
wholehearteadly thank Yiannis Nenes, Yiannis Flaskis, Nikos Georgoulakis,
Nikos Tzanakis, Stelios Kteniadakis, Sophia Haralambous, Maristella Papadaki,
Nicholas Askordalakis, Giorgos Drakonakis, Eleni Apostolaki, Maria Zoumaki,
Panagiotis Garefalakis.
Angelos
Spartalis
    
    
10 of the 97 illustrations of
the book
BIOGRAPHY
Angelos
Spartalis is a painter and cinematographer. He grew up in Crete, Greece and
in Dusseldorf, Germany. He holds a Degree from the National Technical
University of Athens (Mechanical Engineering-Aeronautics).
Among other awards and distinctions he has won the Innovation & Digital
Effects Award from the Hellenic Film Academy (2014) as well as the Digital
Alexander Award and the Fischer Audience Award at the Thessaloniki
International Film Festival (2008). In 2014 he was selected to represent
Titanium Yiayiannos Gallery at the ART ATHINA international art fair with
his solo exhibition “Christ re-Crucified” curated by the art historian and
NKUA professor Dr Manos Stefanidis. In 2015 the Museum of Contemporary Art
Crete and the Cultural Organisation of the Municipality of Agios
Nikolaos co-organised his solo exhibition “The Apology of Socrates in
Kaufbeuren” curated by the Museums’ director Maria Maragkou.
He lives in Exarchia, Athens and in Agios Nikolaos, Crete.
INFORMATION -
CREDITS
Copyright 2022
ATHENS VOICE
1st edition: May 2022
Series: Litterature
Series supervisor: Angeliki Birbili
Editor: Fotis Georgeles
Writing -
Illustration: Angelos Spartalis
Illustration
Assistants: Mara Apostolaki, Daniela Cazanu, Marianna Gkika, Nadia Spartali,
Dimitra Spartali
Consultants to
the author: Elpida Grigoraki, Manos Siganos
Photographs of works: Angela Svoronou, Giannis Bousdoglou
Music in video banners: Antonis Papaspyros (OBLIVION)
Technical
editor - Proofreader: Konstantina Tsiaga
Cover design: Manos Siganos
Artistic director: Konstantina Vlachopoulou
LINKS
The cover of the book
2D
*
3D
Video banner of the
book Landscape
*
Portrait *
GIF
The book's presentation in Athens Article
*
video
The book's presentation in Crete video
Athens Voice Books Editions
Angelos Spartalis
MORE
LINKS ABOUT ANGELOS SPARTALIS WORK
Painting: The apology of Socrates in Kaufbeuren
Painting:
Christ Re-Crucified
Animation: From the Earth to the Moon
Cinema:
The Snow-White syndrome
Literature: The
poet of Facebook
Literature: Days with Nikos
Music: Songs produced by
Angelos Spartalis ôñáãïõäéþí
Science:
Hybrid Sorting Method
Chess:
Alice in Chessland
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