Kalfayan Galleries (11 Haritos Street, Kolonaki, Athens) presents the solo exhibition of Konstantinos Mouchtaridis, titled “The Earliest Winds”. The opening of the exhibition will take place on Friday, 12 June 2026, from 19:00 to 21.00.
The text accompanying the exhibition is written by Odette Kouzou (curator):
“Kalfayan Galleries presents the first solo exhibition by Konstantinos Mouchtaridis, titled The Earliest Winds. The exhibition features a body of work consisting of tempera paintings on wood, alongside watercolour drawings on paper. The landscape remains central to his practice, yet here it emerges from his insistence on painting that which cannot be painted: the wind.
In this new series of works, his contemplation begins with the quintessential iconographic tradition of landscape representation and, by extension, the elements of nature, which are depicted by means of anthropomorphic forms and symbolisms. A central point of reference in his research is the Tower of the Winds in Plaka, where the eight principal winds are depicted in relief, personified as winged deities. There, each figure is accompanied by a unique symbol, while in his works, the identity of the winds shifts from image to sensation. Mouchtaridis moves away from the descriptiveness of representation, exploring how he could transcend it through an abstract approach and capture those qualities of the landscape that we do not perceive visually as static images, but as dynamic conditions that are constantly changing.
With his characteristic meticulousness and sensitivity, he “looks” into the wind in order first to feel it and then to paint it. The core of his practice, defined by delicate and repetitive brushstrokes in combination with alternating colour palettes, here acquires greater density and vividness. The rhythm of his gesture becomes more animated as he confidently renders the movement and energy of the winds. A synesthetic dimension runs across the works, as he attempts to convey through colour an element of nature that can only truly be intuited. The experience of the wind is approached indirectly by way of the associations and traces it leaves upon the landscape, such as the sound of rustling leaves or the turbulence of a stormy sea.
His painterly language functions as a field that transforms an invisible element of nature into an embodied experience, translating the continuous shifts in temperature, intensity, and flow that characterize wind as a natural phenomenon. The surfaces of the works operate as sites of observation for these forces, whose intensity is conveyed by layers, interruptions, and variations in colour. In some works, the element of air appears condensed within the frame of the image, while in others it seems to extend beyond the boundaries of the canvas and diffuse into the surrounding space. This way, the variability of the phenomenon is highlighted, sometimes mild and at other times dominant.
As the titles of the works suggest, Mouchtaridis hints at a deeply personal relationship with the history and local names of the winds, incorporating personal experiences, memories, and emotions. Livas, Zephyros, Khamsin, and Gregos transport us into the world of the artist’s explorations, narrating their journeys from Egypt to Crete, and from Venice to the Hellespont. The viewer is invited to situate themselves within a condition where painting becomes the carrier of a bodily experience of space, in which the wind is approached as the sensory force that reveals the landscape.”
Short Bio Konstantinos Mouchtaridis (b. 1996) lives and works between Athens and Serres. His practice, working with painting, drawing, and ceramics, investigates the evolving relationship between art and nature. He holds a BFA (2022) and an MFA (2025) from the Athens School of Fine Arts. Mouchtaridis was a recipient of the SNF SART Scholarship (Stavros Niarchos Foundation & Siena Art Institute, 2016) and attended ENSAV de La Cambre in 2018. In 2024, he took part in the Thermia Project artist residency. His work has been presented in exhibitions such as 4ensic Drawings, (Kalfayan Galleries, 2025); Traces on Soil (Thermia Project, 2024); Plegma (Alkinois, 2024); Locale: Here and Far (Old School of Kastro, 2023); and Khimaira (Alkinois, 2023).
