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INTRODUCTION
Maria, the timid daughter of a
major-general, and high school senior in a Greek provincial town in the late
1980s, is in love with her childhood friend and classmate, the
tempestuous Stella. Alarmed by small-town gossip, the major-general
hurriedly forces his daughter into an engagement to a trusted subordinate
officer. Straight after graduation, he sees that Maria gets married and
swiftly sends her off to Athens. Stella, violently separated from her
beloved Maria, burns all bridges and escapes to study in the colourful
Netherlands. A chance encounter between Maria and Stella seven years later
in Amsterdam at the Van Gogh Museum is where our story begins.
CONCEPT
A draft of a
modern tragedy or the storyboard for a film, the fragmentary story of
Maria and Stella by Angelos Spartalis is a kind of a contemporary –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 the national poet of Greece Dionysios Solomos, this
is not a compact, well-rounded rhythmical narrative. There is no literary
pretence in this anarchically illustrated hybrid Lesbo-Western. All in your
face!
ABOUT 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 the first draft
until the completed version, the book was read and aptly commented on by a
number of loyal friends and collaborators (well, they also did say a lot of
nonsense 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, Nikolas Tavlas.
I illustrated the work while I was writing it, in a way that the images were
often the inspiration for the text rather than the other way around. Thus, I
found myself oscillating between illustrating the text and putting
illustration into words, something I found as amusing as being on a seesaw,
or even more. I painted the images with oil colours on Hahnemühle paper 310
gr or Royal Talens paper 240 gr size 30x40cm. The paper was often prepared
with acrylic sizing. All works are signed at the back. Invaluable help
during the illustration was offered by Mara Apostolaki, Daniela Cazanu,
Marianna Ghika, Nadia Spartali and Dimitra Spartali. The images were
photographed by Giannis Bousdoglou and Angela Svoronou.
In addition to all the treasured friends I already mentioned, I also
wholeheartedly would like to thank Yiannis Nenes, Yiannis Flaskis, Nikos
Georgoulakis, Giorgos Tzanakis, Stelios Kteniadakis, Sofia Charalampous,
Maristella Papadaki, Nikolas Askordalakis, Giorgos Drakonakis, Eleni
Apostolaki, Maria Zoumaki, Panagiotis Garefalakis.
Angelos
Spartalis
    
    
10 of the 97 illustrations of
the book
BIO
Angelos
Spartalis is a painter and cinematographer. He grew up in Crete, Greece and
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 Golden
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 Contemporary 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 of 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 Museum’s 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 Kazanu, Marianna Ghika, Nadia Spartali
and 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
Translation: Sofia Charalampous
LINKS
The cover of the book
2D
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3D
Video banner of the
book Landscape
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Portrait *
GIF
The book presentation in Athens Article
*
video
The book presentation in Crete video
Athens Voice Books Editions
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