Art Exhibition by Peter Bogdanos Retrospective of works

Oh glorious olive tree of old

If only you had eyes to see

[…] what stories you would tell…

Peter Bogdanos

This year, the Greek Consulate’s Fall events calendar started with an art exhibition by Greek American visual artist Peter Bogdanos. The opening took place inside the Consulate on September 5th. The exhibition is a retrospective with the Greek element omnipresent throughout the artist’s work.

In many of his paintings, Bogdanos draws inspiration from the olive tree. When Greece held the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, the olive tree was a recurring motif throughout the Games’ activities. Bogdanos was not left untouched by the mystical influence of that powerful symbol. The encounter, however, was purely coincidental. Travelling to Crete two years before the Games, Bogdanos’s family explained to the artist that they were chosen to play an important role. It so happened that their Cretan village was home to Europe’s oldest olive tree, nearly 5,000 years old, which was later officially declared the Olympic Tree. Like the artist says ‘it is difficult to imagine that this special Olive Tree in Crete has been with humankind since before the alphabet was written’.

Greek-American painter Peter Bogdanos was born in New York City to Greek immigrant parents.  His artistic talents came quite early in his life.  After graduating with distinction from Parsons School of Design on scholarship, Peter received an additional scholarship to study fine arts at the NY Art Students League under Edward Dickinson, Edward Lanning and Robert Hale. He started his love for art inspired mostly by Monet and Van Gogh and then went into abstract, always making his work more universal that would connect to a wider audience.

Peter’s passion for art encompasses a broad range of styles, mediums and techniques. His art has been exhibited numerous times in both the United States and Greece.  Peter frequently visits Greece where his spirituality truly comes alive.  The light and air of Greece is where his unique vision is captured and expressed and that was explicitly demonstrated in his latest show held in Chania, Crete with great success.

On display through September 16th

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