Κορμός αγγέλου

000624 Nikos Yialouris, Angel's Torso, 1991, Indian ink on cardboard, 62 × 46.5 cm

The figure of the mutilated Angel, painted with Chinese ink, a reed pen, and sometimes with a brush onto the paper in quick, confident, yet nervous gestures, constitutes perhaps the most central theme in the mature artistic work of Yialouris. It expresses the disillusionment of the now elderly painter with society, the fall and degradation of ideas. In this particular drawing, the Angel—with wooden limbs replacing his severed legs and arms, headless, and needing supports to remain upright—is transformed into a lifeless carcass; he becomes the tragic reminder of a once-lost image, stripped of the glory and beauty of the past. A symbol that has lost its value in the present.