About the Collection
The Sotiris Felios Collection is a private collection that began in the 1980s. The Collection is focused on contemporary Greek figurative art and especially on painting centred on the human figure.
It includes more than a thousand works by Greek artists living and working in Greece (paintings, sculptures, reliefs, constructions, prints, photographs, drawings, et al.).
All the works of art are the collector’s personal choice.
In the interest of making the Collection accessible to the wider public, Sotiris Felios established “The other Arcadia” Foundation, which organises exhibitions of the Collection’s works both within and outside of Greece, produces the respective catalogues and liaises with other institutions to lend out the Collection’s works for various exhibitions.
In addition to “The other Arcadia” Foundation, the collector has created the 16 Fokionos Negri art space, as a venue to host art exhibitions, organise cultural events and develop collaboration networks, partnerships and exchanges with other cultural organisations.
In 2022 “The other Arcadia” Foundation in collaboration with The Courtauld Institute of Art, London inaugurated the “Residency Programme for Academic and Curatorial Research of Greek Contemporary Art” inviting twice a year art theorists and curators from the University to spend 6 weeks in Athens and develop their research.
Since March 2021 “The other Arcadia” Foundation has partnered with Google Arts & Culture bringing three hundred sixteen artworks and five online exhibits from The Sotiris Felios Collection to the worldwide audience of the digital platform.
The Collector’s Eye
I believe that throughout our lives we are concerned in some way about our identity; as well as our destiny. We look for situations that confirm our awareness of who we are and our self-esteem, both of which are essential to give people roots.
The paintings you see before you – an important part of the collection – were for me a foothold, an embrace. Starting out from Arcadia, my homeland, along the road in search of meaning.
In the works of these artists, I discerned that ‘something’ which is capable of taking you to places that wealth or physical pleasures cannot reach. I saw in these paintings that their creators were seeking both quality and integrity. They made an effort to create ‘something’; and this effort is what reveals their soul. The soul that communes with whatever is the opposite of the ephemeral.
Sotiris Felios