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THE ARTIST

Inspiration and creation have no limits, no beginning, and no end. I believe I was born with color running through my veins instead of blood. Repetition tires me. Stagnation and stagnant waters are not part of my existence. I have spent the majority of my life teaching, learning, researching, experimenting, and discovering things. This continuous flow will remain part of my story.

I have found that those who possess my creations are true explorers of the soul and art.

I was born on the island of Homer, Chios, and for the past several years I have been living in Athens.

My love for painting and artistic expression captivated me from a very young age. I was fortunate to study under several renowned Greek painters, including Yannis Tsarouchis, Spyros Vassiliou, Dimitris Mytaras, Petros Zoumboulakis, Kirillos Veniadis, and Alekos Fasianos, among others. I also attended courses at the Vakalo School and the School of Fine Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria.

I have held dozens of exhibitions.
My works are part of public and private collections.
They decorate airports and tourist offices in many European cities through the Greek National Tourism Organization. They can also be found in the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Archdiocese of Athens, the office of former Prime Minister Konstantinos Simitis, and in the offices of various Greek ministries.

My works have also been exhibited in many other notable spaces, such as the Museum of Art in Melbourne. It has also been featured numerous times in Greek and international media.

I am a member of the Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece and currently serve as its representative for the North Aegean Islands.

In addition to painting, I have written and published seven fairytales, several of which have been performed on stage. I have also published several art albums and calendars.

I am a member of UNESCO, the International Society of Greek Writers and Artists, and the Accademia Ferdinandea in Italy.

My artistic journey includes collaborations with acclaimed musicians, painting their songs.
I also taught painting aboard cruise ships, attended by visitors from various countries.

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Maria Sarri Belle

Exhibitions

I held my first solo exhibition in 1972 at the FOB (Filoproodos Omilos Vrontadou) in Chios, a milestone that marked the beginning of my professional journey.

Over the years, I have held more than sixty solo exhibitions and have participated in many group exhibitions in Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, Canada, and Australia.

In Australia, my exhibitions were hosted at Kudos Gallery and Frame Gallery.
My works were also exhibited at the Sydney College of Fine Arts in 2009, following approval by the university administration, and remained on display for several months at the Museum of Art in Melbourne and in a major gallery in Adelaide.
Similar exhibitions were organized by the Greek Consulate in Montreal, Canada.

In previous years, I organized exhibitions at the Mykonos Art Gallery, the Municipal Theater of Piraeus, Akropol Palace in Athens, in Halandri, at Parnassos, and the Chios Art Gallery.

During the summers, I held solo exhibitions at my studio in Anavatos, Chios — “The Rock House of Art” — entirely decorated and designed by me.
The house became a cultural landmark due to the creation of embossed rock surfaces painted with the history of the village.
It was featured in Greek and international media and welcomes thousands of visitors from around the world.
It was there that the series “Rock Art” was born, which remains central to my artistic journey.

Beyond dozens of exhibitions, I have created murals in public and private spaces, such as kindergartens, nursing homes, the Environmental Education Center, and PIKPA (for children with special needs).

Depending on the theme, I use various materials such as pencil, charcoal, tempera, watercolor, cold enamel, oil pastels, oil, and acrylic.

I have developed my own signature techniques:
• Relief painting called “The Cord,” using string dipped in various materials
• A mixed technique resembling mosaic pointillism with Eastern influences, incorporating olive root fragments, stones, and quartz — called “Byzantillism.”

Awards

Painting Awards:

Gold medal for her contribution to art, by the International Society of Greek Writers and Artists at the 2nd Spiritual Olympiad |1999.

1st prize and gold medal in a competition at the Panathenaea 2000 event on the theme '’Personalities of the century'’.

1st prize ‘’Oscar 2000'’ from the Accademia Ferdinandea in Catania Italy.

Prize from the European Cultural Delphi Center, for her works in painting and poetry | 2000.

Poetry Awards:

Award from the Committee of Literates ''Goddess Minerva'', at the Cultural Centre of the Municipality of Athens, for her poetic work at the ''15th Poets' Festival'' | 2000

Prize at the International Poetry Competition in Johannesburg, Africa | 2001

1st Prize Giovanni Gronhi at the 14th International Poetry-Painting Competition at the Accademia Pontedera in Pisa | 2000.

Expert Reviews

Some painters paint exclusively with their minds, but there are others who paint only with the fervent material of their soul. That is to say, those who prioritize emotion in every choice they make. And that has its risks. Maria Sarri-Belle from the fragrant island of Chios, with its immense history, belongs to the latter. She has traveled the globe, reaching as far as Australia, exhibiting and teaching painting. Albert Camus often said that it is impossible to perceive, to understand something, unless you have first felt it with all your strength... The Orthodox Fathers put it differently:

"The mind dries things up. The heart refreshes them..."

Maria possesses a passion and an unprecedented strength in everything she does. Far from recipes or schools, she follows her color instincts, which often results in explosive outcomes. She does not aim for her painting to capture the image of the world but to convey its secret energy. And if possible, to explain its mysteries... In other words, she does not wish to function as a photographer of this world but rather as an x-ray of it.

This is what she strives to do with her series of paintings, sometimes through an explosion of colors and contrasts, sometimes with the tender suggestion of a pictorial detail, sometimes by focusing more on the subject and its faithful depiction, and sometimes by playing mainly with form, the impasto brushstroke, and the abstract, free play of writing.

Maria Sarri-Belle knows how to combine decorative motifs with something more substantial, which is the essence of true art. With the deposit of her soul in all of her works, large or small she shares the depth of her soul. Because in her paintings, sometimes intensely colorful and sometimes with an evocative undertone, she not only shares experiences of her personal life but also those secret images hidden deep in her subconscious. May Maria's secrets be understood by everyone.

Manos Stefanidis - Art Historian