What is it that thou wouldst have in a silver charger, O sweet and fair Salomé, thou that art fairer than all the daughters of Judaea? What wouldst thou have them bring thee in a silver charger? Tell me. Whatsoever it may be, thou shalt receive it. My treasures belong to thee. What is it that thou wouldst have, Salomé? 1

Salome. The voluptuous young princess who performed the seductive dance of the seven veils inflaming King Herod to the point that he would bring John Baptiste’s head in a silver charger. Judith. The beautiful widow who allured the enemy general Holofernes and managed to decapitate him to save her city of Bethulia from the Assyrians. Delilah. The woman who became the object of Samson’s desire and was able to deceive him by making him unveil his deepest secret concerning his immanent great strength.

Ferocious attractive women that cunningly exploit men are drawn out from the cosmos of Jeudo, Christian and ancient Greek mythology and become the central subject matter in Alexandros Vasmoulakis’ new work. Moving from his previous depiction of vigorous and dynamic reclining nudes that sarcastically gaze at the male viewer, the artist once again unleashes the forces that control the conflicting relationship between men and women and enhances the infamous personality of a femme fatale.

 Through a colorful mixture of oil, ink and acrylic, Vasmoulakis’ female protagonists are rendered as supernatural creatures. Deities that deviate from images of mere objectification. The artist’s rough brush strokes and abrupt lines intensify their Dionysiac nature, which is playful and humorous, as well as liberating. According to Vasmoulakis, the patterns of a patriarchal society throughout history have been established due to men’s lustful desire and simultaneous fear of women. An issue that reverberates to the mythical association of Eros and Thanatos with the disquieting charm of female beauty.

 However, the artist distorts their features, suggesting their physical attractiveness without representing it. He portrays the castrated man, who, disarmed and powerless, witnessed Death and Desire, confessing that this revelation “felt like a kiss”. Once more Vasmoulakis' figures become strange amalgams of the past and present that can never be captured and solidified, but somehow perfectly trigger a stream of consciousness of the eternal game between the two sexes.

Elli Paxinou, January 2012

1 Herode, from Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act by Oscar Wilde