The Benaki Museum Shop presents the exhibition “Minas. Clarity of Shapes” at Benaki Museum / Pireos 138. The exhibition, which also celebrates Minas’ 80th birthday, includes 50 black and white photographs by Costas Coutayar, “silver prints” on archival paper, numbered and signed by the photographer.
Coutayar’s photographs feature portraits of unconventional people of all ages wearing Minas jewellery. At the same time, a collection of Minas signature creations, which are depicted in the photographs, will be exhibited in specially designed windows. This visual coexistence of the two artists highlights their common approach to artistic expression and the mutual respect they have for one another.
Minas is a bohemian, a multidimensional artist of contemporary design. He portrays his art with archaic minimalism, alternating between different materials and working with utmost elegance, grace and a variety of finishes on silver and gold for his jewels, on American and African walnut for his furniture, as well as with carbon fiber, stainless steel, Pentelic marble and porcelain for his everyday objects.
As noted by the exhibition’s curator Eleni Athanassiou “[…] without cut-rate compromises, with his sensitivities and the flawless quality of his creations, he approaches his works holistically and designs in the spirit of the concept of a "total artwork", like another Van de Velde. His work, abstract and simple, with an emphasis on soft, flowing, serpentine lines, on strength and purity of form, has a rhythm – an element of balance, symmetry, harmony and stability – and acts as choreography, keeping chaotic flow at bay, both in space and in time. […]”.
The presentation will be accompanied by a richly illustrated publication of 96 pages titled “Minas. Clarity of Shapes”.