Spotlight on: Tilemachos Kyriazatis

Kyriazatis's latest series of paintings balances and contrasts two of the great motifs of his native Athens - classical temples and modern shipping. These are images resonant with meaning.

For the artist ships represent freedom: they suggest the never-ending human quest for knowledge, for trade, for art, for civilization itself. The ruins of classical antiquity are humanity's footprint on time; they offer both a meeting point and a conversation with the past, connecting us with history and mythology, with tradition and experience.

Kyriazatis in his painting moves between the representational and the abstract. The two elements are held in constant dialogue. He takes as the starting point for each picture the electric 'first impression' - that visual impulse in a scene that compels his attention and suggests the possibility of a painting. This might be anything from a striking collision of colours, an unexpected accident of geometry, or a commanding outline. From that point he works to simplify the forms, paring away the unnecessary details, to reveal the essence of the scene. Colours are intensified and modulated to evoke the artist's emotional response to each motif.

In achieving his ends Kyriazatis has moved increasingly away from classical brushwork, preferring to apply his paint to the canvas in strong layers and bold juxtapositions. In his current collection of work, the technique provides a sense of drama - both visual and emotional. These are paintings of commanding beauty and assurance.