Nikolaos M. Bokeas (Greece)

The Helmet /2011/pencil on paper/185cm×137cm

Appreciation: Several years ago, a group of archaeologists found an ancient Greek helmet at Haifa Bay in Israel. The shape and structure of the helmet belong to the Corinthian style. Plated with gold foil and decorated with a fine-grained surface, it was a helmet made of bronze around the 5th century BC. The owner of the helmet might be a Greek solider who had fought in the Greco-Persian Wars. The Battle of Thermopylae between Greeks and Persians which took place in 480 BC has left a horrifying and miserable impression on the Greeks. The Helmet by the Greek artist Nikolaos M. Bokeas is a Photographic Realism pencil sketch with a visual effect bearing a close resemblance to black-and-white photograph. The artist depicted the face of a modern man from Europe with beard and wrinkles. Here we can see a helmet of an ancient Greek hero at the hands of the modern man who is solemn and respectful just like he is holding a Holy Grail. In the mind of the artist, he was not only cupping the rusty memory of wars, but also the dream of a free and peaceful life.

Nikolaos M. Bokeas was born in Athens, Greece in 1953. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture and Mathematician of the School of Fine Arts of Athens. He is now a freelance artist.He has participated in the 9th International Biennial of Drawing Pilsen 2014 in Czech Republic,and Exhibition of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece called “The Human Figure in Art”, “The Ancient Olive Groves of Crete in the mist of time” and “Resistance now”.