Vranas Georgiadhis: Fighting All Odds

In August 2013, at Coffee Bean located on Abou Feda Street on the cozy island of Zamalek in the bustling city of Cairo, Egypt, I met an intriguing and extraordinary human being, Vranas Georgiadhis. A Spartan Greek born in Egypt, Vranas is an amazing artist with an uncanny ability to capture the inner beauty, passion and life of people at the stroke of a paintbrush.

Initially, what drew my attention to Vranas was his natural self-confidence and acceptance of being himself – clearly observed by his attire and assortment of rings, necklaces, and his collection of books and photographs. When approached, what I discovered was a human being who is unbelievably kindhearted, well-read and who lives by his beliefs and values, with an unfettering ability to persevere and fight. Unfortunately, since the time that I have met Vranas, he has experienced a downward spiral of challenges, which has led to his current predicament of being homeless in the streets of Cairo.

In December 2015, my dear friend, Vranas Georgiadhis was illegally evicted from his home and studio in Zamalek that later led to the theft of his personal possessions which included five of his best paintings, all of his imported artistic materials, paints, brushes and other tools; thus, inhibiting him from painting. Additionally, his clothing and suitcases were taken, preventing him from future traveling. Vranas has been living as a homeless in the streets of Cairo for over four years in counting. He has endured depleting conditions and is now facing serious health complications that must be addressed.

Only two of Vranas’s Egyptian paintings have survived (shown below):  A Boy and His Father and The Girl of Aswan [In the Dark Blue Hijab]. The paintings feature indigenous people from Aswan during 2005 and 2008, where he lived after returning to Egypt from the United States. The two paintings are currently held in San Francisco, California in hopes that their sale will allow him to permanently leave his current predicament of being homeless in the streets of Cairo, Egypt, and serve as a segue to his relocation to a safer environment so he may address his present health deterioration in order to return to his artistic work. The ultimate goal is for Vranas to return to Greece so he may fully recover and reestablish himself as the artist he once was, and was always meant to be.

The two paintings are being sold at a special reduced price that is actually only half of what they would normally be priced at any recognized gallery. The funds from the sale of these paintings will be sent directly to Vranas so he may immediately begin the process of recovery and relocation. The paintings may be purchased individually at $5000 USD each, or as a set for a total of USD $8000.

For inquiries about the sale and delivery, as well as any other financial donations to help my dear friend Vranas Georgiadhis, please contact Melissa at baraka.one@gmail.com

A Boy and His Father — Aswan, Egypt 2013 | Vranas Georgiadhis | 18” x 14” Oil paint on wooden supported panel || Cost: USD $5000 (individual) or USD $8000 (both paintings)

Vranas Georgiadhis’s Comments: 

“This Father and his young son, I would see everyday in the open market in Aswan. They sold their fruits and vegetables directly in the street and unlike other sellers had no cover to protect them from the intense heat of the sun. The little boy would often be found leaning on his father’s back for support and sometimes even for shade. The boy never attended school and obviously in the future would never attend university. Often in this child’s quiet and sometime sad reflected face, I often saw his inner realization that, like his father and the many generations before him, his whole predestined life and future would only be lived out in the old open market of Aswan”

 

Vranas Georgiadhis’s Comments: 

“I first saw this extraordinary looking young girl sitting with her friends in a simple afternoon eating place. Her eyes were so intense that I could see them from across the room. Since it was not the custom in Aswan for a man to converse and inquire about a young woman without introduction, I asked a female friend if she would approach her and tell her that as a painter, I wished permission to photograph her and do a painted portrait of her in the future. She immediately left her table and spoke to me directly and told me in perfect English that I had to permission to paint her. She informed me later that she was a student at the university and her favorite study was the history of English literature. She was only 18 years old. When she asked me why I wanted to pain her, I replied that I saw, in her eyes and face, the beauty and determination of all young Egyptian women trying to better their lives both for themselves and for their families. To date, this still remains one of the best portraits I completed in all of Egypt.”

Again, for inquiries about the sale and delivery, as well as any other financial donations to help my dear friend Vranas Georgiadhis, please contact Melissa at baraka.one@gmail.com

*Both paintings are currently in San Francisco, California and can be purchased individually for USD $5000 or as a set for USD $8000