Parrhesia (Political Hermit), charcoal and oil on linen, 130 x 100 cm, 2026, Athens, Hydra, Berlin
A Doric temple, cut off at the side, its architrave broken away to the left and with it the words WHOEVER SPEAKS IT. They invoke a maxim attributed to Maimonides: "Hear the truth, whoever speaks it." It is not the speaker who decides the weight of a sentence, but its truth alone.
Between the columns hang the sacrificial lambs. The price of the free word. Parrhesia, truth-telling under threat, is dangerous. In front, the donkey. It does not speak, it bears. It looks directly at the viewer.
Below in the valley, the agora. The place of assembly, to which the free word is addressed.
Where is the agora today?