The AK experience is a sine qua non for aesthetic, mental and spiritual exultation. The uniqueness of outstanding contemporary artistic creation imbued with the finest Cycladic aesthetic. Presenting the work of some of the most significant contemporary Greek artists in four discrete spaces, the AK experience investigates the boundaries between man, nature, light, art and architecture, offering a unique proposal in the plastic arts created in Greece. From the very first art gallery ever established in Santorini in 1980: the AK gallery in Fira, to the spectacular AK Art Foundation and the newest AK gallery in Oia, all AK galleries demonstrate exquisite fine art at its finest. At the epicenter of all, AK Asimis Kolaitou Art Foundation is the major art exhibition space of the island. It consists of indoor art exhibition spaces as well as outdoor spaces for various performance art events. A labour of love for the top Santorinean artists, Christophoros Asimis, Eleni Kolaitou and Katonas Asimis, the galleries stand out as some of the most significant art spaces of Greece exhibiting works of art internationally acclaimed as finest samples of greek contemporary art. The outcome of an exclusive design process, AK galleries meet the most stringent aesthetic criteria, both for the artists they represent and the cultural experience they provide.

Christoforos Asimis
Christoforos Asimis is internationally acclaimed as “the painter of Santorini”. The high aesthetic value of his paintings reveals the originality of his vision while since the beginning of his career he has dedicated himself exclusively to proudly representing his place of birth.

He was born and raised in Santorini. He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and returned to Santorini to express his creative obsession and the sensibilities awakened in him by the Santorinean light and landscape. His signature is synonymous to the uniqueness of his depictions of the island, and this is why he is known as “the painter of Santorini”.

Indeed, he is the only painter who has dedicated himself exclusively to the island’s natural beauty. His focus on natural light in the landscapes he has been painting for 45 years has even inspired a “school” all of his own due to the unparalleled manner in which he captures the light of the Cyclades and records the shapes and figures of the very particular type of architecture encountered on Santorini. He is internationally recognized as one of the top landscape painters in Greece, and his work has found its way into a number of private collections both in Greece and abroad. 

The artist also decorated the entire interior of Santorini’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral at Fira, a challenging task which took 7 years to complete, as the Cathedral is the main place of worship on the island and its sheer size is daunting. Christophoros composed a series of frescoes which take up the entirety of the church’s indoor space and are deemed to be exquisite specimens of Byzantine art.

At the AK Art Foundation you will have the opportunity to view some of the most characteristic examples of different periods in Christophoros Asimis’ life as a visual artist.

Eleni Kolaitou
Eleni Kolaitou, a highly lauded Greek sculptor, consistently arouses the visitor’s aesthetic interest and awareness through her sophisticated creations in bronze, ceramic and gold. Also, in collaboration with Katonas Asimis, she contributed to the architectural design and creation of the AK Art Foundation.

In her sculptures, the classical forms meet modernism head on through a personal conception of plasticity and the harmonious marriage between different elements.

Eleni Kolaitou was born in Cephalonia.  She studied Sculpture and Ceramics on a scholarship at the Athens School of Fine Arts. Later, while seeking new artistic forms of expression, she delved into the techniques of creating metal jewelry. Selecting gold as a material of extraordinary properties, and utilizing the infinite range of colour afforded by precious stones, she is a jewelry maker famous for the finesse and timelessness of her works. 

In our days, it is a rare and unexpected pleasure to taste the fruits of the labour of a sculptor whose artistic perception is deeply rooted in sculpture’s classical principles, which infuse her work with true substance and meaning. Beyond the contemporary essence of her creations, Eleni Kolaitou demonstrates a profound understanding of the distinct elements present in her works and forges relationships of harmony between them. Her extensive experience has allowed her to develop her own codes, which are founded on the classical notions of plasticity and harmony in sculpture. Thus, the sculpted form acquires immense power and simplicity, and this is what renders the artist’s creations so imaginative; her insistence on enduring standards of proportionality. For this reason, her works illuminate a solid perception of the essence of things, as well as the priceless and classic nature of aesthetic beauty.

Her works grace collections around the world, and she is highly valued as a very important representative of the Greek fine arts. Her large scale creations are located at the AK Art Foundation exterior space, where the visitor can also enjoy her world-renowned 22-carat gold handmade jewelry collection. Each piece of this collection is an exclusive creation, designed and handcrafted individually by the artist herself.

Katonas Asimis
Katonas studied Fine Arts in London and Architecture in Bath, UK. He worked as an artist in London, Athens, New York, Salonica and Santorini. His works have been displayed in various exhibitions internationally, such as the Venice Biennale and the Thessaloniki Biennale of Arts. His latest series, the subject of which is the rhythmology of Santorini, is exhibited at the AK Art Foundation. Also, the design and creation of the AK Art Foundation was collaboration between artists Katonas Asimis and Eleni Kolaitou.

A partly representational artist who utilizes a neo-expressionist style, Katonas is interested in the sensation which lies beneath the artistic outcome itself; he engages with the energy of intention and the metaphysical aspect of composition.

There are two fundamental directions which are consistently reflected in his work. On the one hand, he focuses on the human form, the human body and portraiture, and he investigates how these can be shaped or re-shaped according to the emotional weight they carry in themselves, or the psychological and existential emotional load they engender. His partially representational painting is based on the expressive correlation between the primary elements which make up his paintings – that is, the brush strokes which create them – and the purpose and sense of how they are positioned and ordered. It is exactly the intention and emotional weight of these correlations that illuminate the ties that bind the artist and his subject, the psychological, symbolic or emotional impact of what is being depicted.

At the same time, the artist examines the meaning and outcome of how the composition elements are arranged in semi-abstract painting. The starting point of this artistic direction is plasticity, order and the relationship among the fundamental elements which construct a scene. Ultimately, this process determines the aesthetic impact of these relationships, rendering image a declaration of the symbolic, the mysterious and the essential.

Katonas Asimis enhanced the architectural design of the AK Art Foundation building with his vision and superb understanding of both natural and artificial space. A visual artist of broad education and an international career, Katonas marries in his work the representational element with the mystery of abstraction, and he invites – challenges – the viewer to engage in his/her own, completely individual interpretation.