I just got a few images from Greek artist Fikos who was recently in Morocco invited to take part of this year’s JIDAR Toiles de Rue street art festival.
Fikos, known for his murals inspired in Greek traditions and mythology, decided this time to illustrate something from the Moroccan culture. Doing some research, he found one that was common to Greek and Moroccan mythology, the myth of “Hesperides”, the nymphs of evening and sunsets. The Garden of Hesperides (the place visited by Hercules in order to complete his eleventh labor) contained a tree with golden apples, which was protected by the nymphs and the dragon Ladon – often depicted as a snake – and according to scholars, it was located in Morocco, north of Rabat.
Painted during the course of 10 days in the amazingly beautiful Rabat or “Fortified Place”, the mural is a delicate and iconographic interpretation of the myth that combines his fascination for Byzantine art and modern movemnets like street art.
About Fikos
Born in 1987 in Athens, a city he still calls home, Fikos developed an interest in art from a young age, painting whatever he saw around him – comics, landscapes, icons and more. At the age of 13 he started studying Byzantine painting under the guidance of George Kordis, with whom he later collaborated for 5 years painting murals in Orthodox churches, while at the same time developing his own personal painting style.
With a background as both a graffiti artist and an iconographer in Orthodox Christian churches, Fikos continues his research and developmental journey by painting murals in public spaces. The result is a wonderful mix where he introduces a Byzantine iconographic technique into a modern trend like street art with themes that often emanate from the Orthodox Christian tradition and ancient Greek mythology.
Many thanks to Fikos and Iryna Kanishcheva for the images.
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Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
