Summary
- George Stamatakis presents a new solo exhibition at Nitra Gallery in Thessaloniki.
- His paintings explore dawn and dusk through imagined landscapes.
- The exhibition opens on November 7, 2026.
- It remains on view through December 12.
Event Details
Nitra Gallery is presenting George Stamatakis’s new solo exhibition, “(Dusk and Dawn) Before the Stars Fade”, in Thessaloniki, opening on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 12:00 to 15:00.
Stamatakis turns his attention to the hours when daylight changes: just before the last light disappears and just before the first light arrives. The new series does not depict identifiable geographic places. Instead, it builds imagined landscapes that feel strangely familiar.
Landscapes between light and darkness
Warm and cool colours share the same picture plane, producing atmospheres of romanticism, nostalgia and melancholy. Changes in light are more than a visual effect: they make each image seem suspended between two possibilities, never quite revealing whether it belongs to dawn or dusk.
Nature is compelling but also fragile. Viewers are invited to move closer and notice the smaller landscapes hidden in the details of each composition. Alongside the larger paintings, smaller organic works function almost like colour studies for the series as a whole.
George Stamatakis and his relationship with nature
Born in Heraklion, Crete, in 1979, George Stamatakis graduated from the Painting Department of the Athens School of Fine Arts in 2019. He also studied in Shinji Ohmaki’s sculpture studio at Tokyo University of the Arts on a JASSO scholarship.
His practice begins with painting and often extends into sculpture and installation, exploring environmental change and our relationship with nature. His project “The Color of Phenomenon” received an Arts Council Tokyo award in 2020. The collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens also includes his 2021 work “THE BLUE MOUNTAIN AI-ZONE ‘Landscape’”.
His engagement with the natural world has also been visible in earlier exhibitions: he participated in the group show “The Silent Language of Plants”, which brought art into conversation with biology and environmental awareness.
Dates, venue and visiting hours
The exhibition runs from November 7 through December 12, 2026, at Nitra Gallery, 51 Philippou Street, near the Roman Forum in Thessaloniki. The opening is on Saturday, November 7, from 12:00 to 15:00.
Visiting hours: Wednesday–Friday 11:00–14:30, plus Friday 17:00–20:00, Saturday 11:00–15:00, and by appointment. For information: +30 2310 285 890 or [email protected]. Admission pricing is not specified in the gallery’s announcement.
What we think
The last light of the day is one of the most compelling moments for anyone who photographs landscapes. It is not just brightness that changes; colour relationships change too, along with the way we read space. Stamatakis takes that experience into painting without being tied to a real location.
For photographers and image-makers, there is a lot to observe in how warm and cool areas create depth and atmosphere. Smaller details carry part of the narrative rather than simply decorating the scene. It offers another way to think about landscape beyond faithful documentation.
