this is one of many drawings and paintings i made, exhibited & sold in the mid-70's. some of you will be familiar with this particular one or others in the series. it has deep meaning for me for a number of reasons. kyriakos was a street cleaner in the plaka neighborhood of athens, deemed by most people to be retarded.
i drew & painted him more than any of the construction workers who posed for me during that period. i never considered him to be retarded. we spoke little, but one day, just a few days before students barricaded themselves in the polytechnic building and were attacked with tanks & foot solldiers, and many killed, he spoke quietly to me while gazing out my studio window at he tower of the winds.
mr. philip, he asked softly, "what does it mean to see blood in your dreams. a lot of blood?"
after the polytechnic incident, i realized he had experienced the event in a dream. he was, i decided, a kind of seer.