... the Artist is constantly inspired ...
must be a tireless worker...As long as one works, one does not grow old.
2nd floor:
Works from Carlos Cambelopoulos’ personal collection. Artworks of different movements and techniques, from the global map of art by important and less important creators. The variety extends from the 16th c., with brackets, gravures and a priceless polychrome statue, continues with sculptures of various types dating from the 17th to the 20th c, paintings, conceptual works and other kinds, to the most experimental and mixed media techniques of today. To mention a few names of the creators from the vast time frame that is covered: Fassianos, Tsarouhis, Engonopoulos, Georgiadis, Moralis, Pavlos, Takis, Alexakis and many non-Greek artists such as Moirignot, Giacometti, Jean Cocteau, Tremblay, Delaunay, Fernand Léger, Gory, Le Moult, Silvano “Nano” Campeggi, Jacques-Louis David, Jean Delpech, Pourbaix, L. Ferdinand Laisne, Niki de Saint Phalle κ.ά.
A rich library with books on art, architecture et.c. dating from the 18th c. onwards, amongst which are also many rare publications in Greek, French and English.
The Area:
The Carlos Cambelopoulos Foundation is located in the Splantzia area, in the heart of the Old Town of Chania, behind Agora (Local Market Place).
CARLOS MONASTERY MUSEUM
A Museum with permanent exhibition, in 600m2, two floors, in the ancient venetian monastery of Santa Maria della Misericordia (1583)
1st floor:
Collection of works by the artist and founder Carlos Cambelopoulos, sculptures, paintings and monotypes.
Specially designed museum space of the Hair Salon, with exhibits of exceptional hairdressing tools from the previous century as well as of today, objects from international operas, publications, gravures and photographs of complex coiffures of famous stars and regular people, wigs, combs, old hair salon furniture et.c
History
The owner, founder and patron Carlos Cambelopoulos, proceeded with founding the Carlos Cambelopoulos Foundation, in January 2018, which he also left as the rightful owner of his inheritance.
Vision
The creation of a cultural centre, open to the world, where everyone would have access to numerous cultural, educational, sports, entertaining, environmental another types of activities and events.
AIMS
The promotion and support of Fine Arts, and especially the European Culture, amongst which are:
The promotion and support of Fine Arts through studying, supporting and helping to spread the arts, as well as recording and preserving artistic creations.
In collaboration with the Franco-Hellenic Association of Chania, the promotion and support of the Franco-Hellenic relations, in the fields of Letters and Arts, as well as the strengthening of the European, but mostly of the Franco-Hellenic culture and the cultural unity of the nations of Europe and the world at large.
Supporting relevant activities, along with organisations of cultural, educational or other interest.
CARLOS CAMBELOPOULOS
The Man
Born in the cosmopolitan Cairo in 1931, where he lived until he was twenty years old. Restless spirit and multitalented, he settled in Paris in 1951, the bastion of the Western culture, where he had a double career as hairdresser and independent artist, while being a fierce collector. The two cities, capitals of fashion, arts and letters, influenced him and helped shape him as a human, in his years of creativity. He would spend his weekdays at the Carita Coiffeur Salon, where famous clients from all over the world were swarming in. In the nights he was tirelessly working in his Montparnasse atelier of the Paris Municipality, while during his days off, he was visiting antique stores for objects that would enrich his admirable collection. In 1992 he bought the Venetian monastery Santa Maria della Misericordia in Chania, which would become his home, coiffeur salon, cultural center, and eventually the Carlos Cambelopoulos Foundation, his life’s work.
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The Artist
Greek sculptor, engraver, painter. A personality of international fame, Carlos Cambelopoulos assimilated strong cultural elements, while he developed a rich creative activity studying the stone, terracotta, bronze, as well as the field of Monotype, which established him as painter and engraver.
As a kid in Cairo, he would always carry a notebook where he would constantly sketch. In the beginning, he was self-taught, later he attended evening classes in the Ecole d’Arts, in Paris, and eventually he taught privately, for thirty years.
He was honoured for his sculptures in 1969, in the European Biennale, won first prize by the City of Paris, in 1980 and was exhibiting world-wide, ever since. In 2008, he was honoured as Face of Europe, by the “Arte” television network of France and Germany.
The Hairdresser
Carlos Cambelopoulos developed into a master of the hairdressing art, having started at the age of fourteen, cleaning sinks in one of the biggest salons of Cairo, across from the Opera House. Thanks to his talent, he soon became responsible for dealing with the wigs and the hair of the Cairo Opera singers, essentially doing actual sculpting with his hands, as he himself used to say.
At the age of twenty he got a diploma attending a hairdresser’s course in Paris, while he decided to live there. In Cairo, he had left behind an exclusive clientele, such as Farouks’ princesses and Lebanese aristocrats.
In Paris, initially he worked at Fernand Aubry Salon with clients from the arts and he later moved on to work for the famous Carita sisters, Maison de Beauté et de Haute Coiffure.
Become a member of the "Carlos Monastery" Museum
Register today as a member of the Museum and be the first to know about the new exhibitions and events that will take place there.
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