The Paddocks Gallery is pleased to present Megali Mera (Μεγάλη Μέρα), a solo exhibition by TEFRA90. Inspired by the natural environment of the region, Megali Mera, meaning ‘big day’ in Greek, presents a series of new paintings created during the artist’s residency at The Paddocks in July 2025.
What is it that captures our attention upon arriving in a new place? How does one begin to explore–and paint–in a new environment? Which habits follow us, and which stay behind? With these questions in mind, Thodoris Fragkos (TEFRA90) has been keeping a journal during his stay in Volos: part record, part exercise, a documentation of his impressions and visual responses to the daily life in the city and the wider region.
On the first night of his arrival, TEFRA90 writes: “We travelled with Yiorgos. A stop in Almyros. I arrived in Volos (23:40). Lida and Stavros welcomed me warmly! We unloaded my scooter from Y.’s van. While searching, we somehow found a big wooden board (a construction plank) somewhere in Nea Ionia. […] He left. I wandered by myself. […] Big day.”
“Big day.” (Megali mera): this simple, spontaneous phrase, charged with the fatigue of travel and the excitement of the first day, encapsulates the intensity of transition and lends the exhibition its title. Drawing inspiration from the surrounding nature, local mythology, mountainous terrain, and the villages of Pelion, Megali Mera unfolds as an open field of reflection. City wanderings, daily walks on the mountain, the light, the sounds, the streams, the shadows, the details that make up the landscape–all become starting points for observation. For TEFRA90, painting becomes a method of processing and internalising these new stimuli. The compositions in the exhibition move between abstraction and representation, creating textures and layers that either imply or reveal forms — plants, insects, stones, objects, and creatures. With colour, drawing, and traces of candle smoke coexisting, the works evoke a sense of ephemerality, immediacy, and spontaneity, encouraging a continuous discovery of patterns and references.
Like a visual journal, the exhibition Megali Mera becomes a landscape of routes and impressions, where time, experience and exploration transform into image.
