Φρουτιέρα

004149 Nikos Yialouris, Fruit bowl, 1981, monotype, 35 × 25 cm

On the white surface of the paper, a rose-red pedestal fruit bowl is seen. Inside it, a carefully arranged selection of autumn fruits has been placed with great skill: lemons, oranges, grapes, and pomegranates. Yialouris has created this particular composition using the technique of monotype printing, a method that produces one single, unique impression. Printmakers employ a hard surface (such as a copper plate) on which they paint a composition. They work with printing inks, acrylics, or tempera, and then transfer the composition to the paper by hand-printing. Contemporary practitioners most often use glass as the base. In the case of Yialouris's Fruit Bowl, the drawing is expressionistic, without much detail. The color is applied pure, with minimal blending. The final result is marked by the swiftness of execution, the expressiveness, and the abstract style. It is colour that interests the artist—colour as a play of contrasts and intensities against the white background.