Madame Figaro - Greece
The Bright Case of Nikolas Kontaxis
By Nikos Kontomitros
A Bright Exhibition. The story of Nikolas Kontaxis is among those that transform adversity into inspiration. Into creation. Bright, like the colors that dominate his art — a note of joy and optimism. Emotional, like his own inner world. Inclusive, like the way he has learned to live. Explosive, like his artistic language, composed of ingenious color combinations on a palette that, at its core, reveals the heart of the artist. Detailed, a quality you notice as you approach his works, where even the simplest element hides a story — powerful, just like its creator.
His physical and developmental challenges did not hold him back. The 75,000 epileptic seizures may have impaired his speech, but not his expressiveness. For that, art became the conduit through which he could convey what he could not communicate in the usual way. His art is his socialization, the element that flourishes alongside him in a life nurtured with the support of his mother. Internationally recognized and a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, Nikolas Kontaxis invites you to “catch” him through his first exhibition in Greece, Catch Me, at the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation on Eratosthenous Street.
Different textures in pop-inspired visual artworks shape the body of an exhibition that, hardly by chance, unfolds spatially — as far as the architecture allows — around a trampoline. You notice it because of its size; you decode it the moment you read the accompanying text. A piece that transformed from a rehabilitation tool into a canvas, symbolizing solidarity and new beginnings, inviting each visitor to connect with its experiential story and to see life with renewed perspective and courage. A symbolic support, a dance-like embrace of solidarity with our neighbor—a mindset that permeates the “body” of this futuristic exhibition.
The words of Nicholas Kontaxis’s mother, who traveled to the capital solely for her son’s exhibition, serve as the most hopeful epilogue:
“Catch Me is Nicholas’s dream to share his art with Greece, the land of his ancestors. It is a call for us to stand together and see how creativity can become a force, a source of hope, and a way of life. Nicholas cannot express himself with words, yet his works speak louder than any voice.”