Yannis Maniatakos's Underwater Paintings at Sylvia Kouvali Explore Seabed's Duality

Sylvia Kouvali in London presents Four Paintings, an exhibition of works by Yannis Maniatakos (1935–2017) created entirely underwater. The Greek artist, who lived on Tinos in the Cyclades, developed a unique method documented in the 2012 film Underwater Painting. Using a dinghy and rubber tubes for air, Maniatakos would descend to study the seabed for hours, preparing canvases with hydrophobic primer so pigments adhered through pressure. The resulting blue landscapes, dated between 1972 and 2007, display a slathery impasto that appears almost burnished. Underwater, water absorbs red and yellow wavelengths, altering color perception—a phenomenon Maniatakos navigated dive by dive. His subjects are not dramatic coral formations but simple sediment shelves, sometimes framed by dark rocks and seaweed, akin to an impressionist's plain field. In his film's voiceover, Maniatakos describes the seabed's inherent fear as a magnetic draw. The paintings' tonal gradients, from turquoise shallows in Untitled (2007) to blue-black depths in The deepest seabed, Hydra (1972), evoke both wonder and tomblike grief. Referencing ancient Greek seafaring cultures where the ocean hid Hades' underworld, these works blend ecstatic joy with trepidation. They serve as portals to moments of reckoning, scaling up existentially to reflect life's immense privilege. The exhibition runs through 28 September.