BYZANTIO MODERNO IS A COLLECTION OF POST-MODERN ICONS CREATED BY GREEK-AMERICAN ARTIST LEFTERIS TSIRONIS, A NATIVE OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.PRODUCED BETWEEN 2003 AND 2004, THE COLLECTION RECEIVED THE ESTEEMED BLESSING AND SUPPORT OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA THROUGH HIS LATE EMINENCE, METROPOLITAN ANTHONY IN 2004.RELIGIOUS ICONS DATE BACK TO THE EARLY CHURCH AND GAINED WIDESPREAD POPULARITY WITHIN THE EASTERN ORTHODOX FAITH; BEYOND THEIR AESTHETIC FUNCTIONS AS ECCLESIASTICAL DECOR AND RELIGIOUS PARAPHERNALIA, ICONS SERVE AS EDUCATIONAL PICTORIALS WHEN PREACHING THE FAITH AND GOSPEL TO THE ILLITERATE MASSES OF THOSE TIMES. EVIDENTLY, WE PERPETUALLY ENTERTAIN THE NOTION THAT “A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.â€THIS SPECIAL COLLECTION OF ICONS WAS PRODUCED USING BOTH TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY TECHNIQUES INCLUDING: PENCILS, PENS, PAPER, A SCANNER AND ADOBE PHOTOSHOP. EACH ICON WAS CONCEPTUALIZED BY DRAWING FROM THE POSING TECHNIQUES USED BY ANCIENT BYZANTINE ICONOGRAPHERS AND BY DECONSTRUCTING EACH SCENE TO REVEAL A CORE ESSENCE. CONTRARY TO TRADITIONAL ICONS, WHERE ARTISTS RELY UPON ORNATENESS, EXCESS, SEVERITY, AND FACIAL EXPRESSION TO PROJECT HOLINESS, GLORY AND EMOTION, THE BYZANTIO MODERNO COLLECTION BREATHES LIFE INTO SIMPLE STICK FIGURES TO PLACE EMPHASIS ON THE SUPERNATURAL PROTAGONIST DEPICTED IN EACH ICON. WHEN STATIONARY, THE STICK FIGURE STANDS ANONYMOUS AND SILENT; WITH THE INCORPORATION OF MOVEMENT, POSITIONING AND SYMBOLIC MARKINGS, THE STICK FIGURE IS GIVEN MEANING AND COMES TO LIFE – TRANSFORMING IT INTO AN ARTIST’S VERSATILE MUSE. ONE COULD CONSIDER THE STICK FIGURE AS BEING SOMEWHAT OF A MODERN-DAY KOUROS, POSSESSING THE ULTIMATE ANATOMY TO BE FASHIONED TO REPRESENT A HOST OF HOLIES FAMILIAR TO MANY CHRISTIAN RITES.
