Despina Stokou

Crowd Pleaser 4 C4, 2015

Despina Stokou (Greek, born 1978), Crowd Pleaser 4 C4, 2015, oil, charcoal, pastel, and collage on linen, 36 x 48 in. Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, 2016.14.

Created during the summer of 2015 at the height of the Greek debt crisis, Stokou’s Crowd Pleaser paintings are her personal response to the historic event as well as meditations on democracy and themes of universal appeal. In Crowd Pleaser 4, Stokou renders the lyrics and musical notation for “Akrogialies Deilina,” a Greek song the artist has described as universally known and loved by the Greek people.