PRESENTATION: Stavros Panagiotakis-Untamed Nostos

Dr. Stavros Panagiotakis returns to his homeland, Crete, with the retrospective exhibition “Untamed Nostos”, illuminating key moments of his artistic journey. His visual language, evolving over time, shifts between abstraction and figuration, from surrealism to dream and myth-making. By transforming familiar and recognizable images, he creates a personal universe where faces, figures, elements of nature and oversized objects coexist—particularly in his recent works, where everyday items acquire almost mythical qualities.

By Valia Katsimpa
Photo: Stavros Panagiotakis Archive

Originally presented in the summer of 2025 at the historic Frangokastello Fortress in Sfakia, this expanded version of the exhibition now arrives at the Chania Cultural Center. It includes 37 works—paintings, sculptures, and installations—forming what the artist describes as “a biography of life”, deeply inspired by the light and landscape of the Mediterranean. “At the distant edge of the world, simultaneously at the center and the beginning of my own time, there, at the dawn of the Mediterranean’s vast eternity, I have long wished to present a few of the visual works I have created—which, ultimately, constitute a biography of life,” he notes.

At the heart of his work lies the notion of nostos (homecoming)—akin to that of Odysseus, yet rooted in an Ithaca that remains firm, tangible and ever-present: a form of inner homeland without deviation, as notably emphasized in the catalogue text by the exhibition curator Efi Michalarou. Τhis recurring theme reflects the artist’s ethical responsibility, first toward himself and then toward his audience. The concepts of wandering and belonging within an ever-evolving society stand as central pillars of his theoretical explorations.

Panagiotakis’ use of diverse techniques, such as comics, graffiti, pastel, acrylics, inks, overpainting etc., forms a kind of visual stratigraphy, a deliberate effort to interweave the images of the past with the manifestations of the future. What makes his work truly compelling is that, in shaping an autobiographical palimpsest in each piece, he transcends self-reference to reach something universal, confronting viewers with their own personal odyssey.

Born in Chania in 1963, Panagiotakis studied Painting (1984–1989) at the Berlin University of the Arts (U.D.K.), under Professor Gerhard Bergmann, while also attending the Printmaking and Sculpture studios. In 1991, he earned his postgraduate degree (Meisterschüler) from the same institution. In 2015, he was awarded a PhD by the Department of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since 2017, he has taught as a member of the Special Teaching Faculty at the Fine Arts School of A.U.Th. He has participated in 73 group and 36 solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad.

Photo: Stavros Panagiotakis, Silent Narratives, History of the City, Municipal Art Gallery of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Mixed Media, 300 x 600cm, © & Courtesy Stavros Panagiotakis

Info: Curator: Efi Michalarou, Chania Cultural Center, 70 Georgiou Papandreou St., Chania, Crete, Greece, Duration: 24/11/-27/12/2025, Days & Hours: Mon-Sat 10:00-14:00 & 18:00-21:00