“Close your eyes and see” ((James Joyce (Ulysses, 1922)).

That is the route that Hariton Bekiaris follows. He closes his eyes and creates brand new worlds. Worlds where man and nature meet with one and only goal: to become one, to exchange features, to give birth to new beings. You can find everything there.

Human-animal hybrids, cats wearing bustles, birds with ties and real creatures of nature. They all coexist in harmony in a place where mythology, history and technology mix. Why would someone want to leave? This is what the artist asks us discreetly and all we have to do is to let ourselves fall into his creations.

Hariton loves everything that exists in nature and everything that is created by mankind.

Through his work he reminds us of all those things that are worthy of our attention and our admiration. Everything that we suppose to love but have forgotten. And so, he speaks of an eternal faith based on man and nature. And it was this faith that, during lockdown, pushed him into creating the “Eye Contact” project.

His care for his loved ones and all those things that he wishes he could experience with them.
His faith in the eyes of the people he missed the most and everything that these eyes represented: round worlds, planets, symbols, hope.

Those eyes, that he painted became his lucky charm but also a reminder of the importance of human presence. Because let’s not fool ourselves, a look will always make us real, or, to paraphrase Descartes, we see each other, therefore we are.