Christos Bokoros

(Greek, born 1956)

Eggs, 1991 84 x 288 cm (installation).

Footnotes

(18)

Provenance
Private collection, Athens.

Exhibited
Athens, Ekfrasi Gallery, Christos Th. Bokoros, Eggs, November 1991 (partially exhibited and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue).
Agrinio, Municipal and Regional Theatre of Agrinio, Christos Th. Bokoros, Exhibition in Agrinio, April 23 - May 23, 2000, no. 15 (catalogued, p. 84 and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue).
Andros, Petros and Marika Kydoniefs Foundation, Christos Th. Bokoros, the Landscape of Hinterland, Ploes VI, July 23 - September 28, 2000, no. 20 (catalogued and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue).

Literature
Y. Bolis, Christos Bokoros, The Painter of Allegory, Ta Nea editions - Contemporary Greek Artists series, Athens 2009, p. 38 (discussed and illustrated).
Analogion magazine, no, 3, Autumn 2002, p. 65 (detail illustrated).

A great draftsman and tromp l' oeil master "who speaks about the invisible through the visible and the immaterial through the material"¹, Christos Bokoros uses the image of the egg to lend new dimensions to its stereotypical iconography. A perfect shape, the egg is an archetypal symbol of hope and expectation of new life that lies dormant under its smooth, fragile shell. The legend that the world originated out of a primal egg is not only an Orphic myth of creation but it is encountered in many ancient civilizations. In the Christian world it often alludes to purity and perfection, while the newly born chick breaking out of its shell symbolises the resurrection of Christ. In this vein, the empty shell in the work's lower right-hand corner, which seems to recapitulate the 18-box sequence, speaks of persistence and continuity, sending out a message of hope and spiritual rebirth.

¹ M. Lambraki-Plaka, "Eternal Greek Light" in Christos Bokoros, 2002 Calendar, Heracles Group of Companies, Athens, 2001.