The Arts

Total articles: 46

Greek-America in Hi-Fidelity
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Steve Frangos, c. 2000 The spring of 1948 marks one of the most significant moments, in the history of the production and influence of Greek music in North America. No sooner had the technology to produce long-playing record albums become available than a host of Greek promoters and musicians beg

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Greek-American Blues Man
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Steve Frangos, c. 2003 Nick Gravenites holds a unique and much respected place, in modern American Popular Music. Gravenites is the composer of “Born in Chicago,” “Work Me Lord” and “Buried Alive in the Blues.” He is widely credited with being the main link between the 1950s folk scene, the 1960s

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Amalia Remembered!
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Steve Frangos, c. 2003 Amalia! Old Greek Songs In The New Land 1923-1950 (Arhoolie 7049) is yet another fine compilation of Greek American records and historical information by David Soffa (Arhoolie Records 10341 San Pablo Avenue El Cerrito CA 94530). For those of you who do not follow these so

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The Michelangelo of America
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The frescos in the United States Capital Building make it one of the nation's most celebrated monuments. Few Americans realize that these frescos were painted by Constantino Stavro Brumidi (1805-1880) a Greek-Italian immigrant. The superb quality of Brumidi's frescos earned him the title of the '

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The Dreamer, the Dragon, and the Clown
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
In the mid1900s, like so many before them, the Spheeris brothers left their small village of Valtosiniko, near Tripoli, and migrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The youngest brother Charles, also known as ‘Curley,’ in time became the owner of the Majick Empire a traveling carnival. Curley Spheeris was

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The Chicago Seasons of Odysseus Lappas
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Of all the ala franka genres and styles of music that have become a valued part of Modern Greek music opera is perhaps the most ardently practiced. Published accounts report that as early as 1773 operas were staged by traveling Italian companies in the S. Giacomo Theatre in Corfu. Few extended famil

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Iannis Xenakis
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The recent death of Iannis Xenakis marks the passing of one of Europe’s foremost avant-garde composers. While many Greeks may have heard of Xenakis’s innumerable successes in the world of modern music it is undoubtedly also true that few have spent even one evening listening to his music. As one mig

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Cult Band
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Cult bands are back. Every song, every album, every performer you ever wanted are all readily available. Websites, specialty catalogs, and 800-numbers are working 24/7 to bring you all the music your credit can bear. In some sense this is definitely musical overload. In another it’s a God sent for t

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The Filmography and Hollywood Careers of the Condos Brothers Dancers
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The Condos Brothers dance team included some of the finest rhythm dancers ever to perform on stage or screen. Sixteen different films forever document the extraordinary dancing abilities and sheer exuberance of these Greek-American brothers. It is equally astounding to realize that the Condos Brothers have been so completely forgotten by the Greek-American community from which they sprang.

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The Greek Columns of Portland, Oregon
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Among the many contributions Greeks have made to the architecture and art of North America the Lovejoy Ramp Murals of Portland, Oregon are among the most unique. Between 1948 and 1952 Tom Stefopoulos (1892-1971), while working as a crossing watchman for the Seattle, Portland and Spokane Railway Comp

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The Picasso of Kustom Kars
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
George Barris is one of the leading industrial designers of modern times. Without exaggeration this one man’s vision has literary reinvented how the entire world sees and designs automobiles. It would be a safe to say that few—if any--of you reading this article have not seen, somewhere, a Barris de

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The Many Lives of John Vassos
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The enduring influence of John Vassos, one of the premier industrial designers of the Twentieth Century, is undeniable. Seminal artist, revolutionary designer, noted book and periodical illustrator, conceptual innovator, avatar of the Modern Movement, widely published author, painter and muralist, M

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The Greek Murals of Ely, Nevada
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The town of Ely, Nevada, as part of a general renaissance program, is honoring the history and contributions of the local Greek community. For over 100 years Greek immigrants and their descendants have contributed not only to the town of Ely but other small towns in the wider White Pine county regio

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The Whimsy and Visual Politics of Stephan Pastis
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
It hasn’t seemed to have occurred to anyone that Greeks in America are among the leading political cartoonists of our times. Yet the growing evidence is all there for the watchful reader. Consider the careers and cartoons of Irene Peslikis, Paul Mavrides, and most recently the international sensatio

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Spirits of the Stones
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
In many ways the life of Polygnotos Vagis is one to which all Greek-American artists aspire. After a period of long struggle and self-examination Vagis’s sculptures are now recognized as representing some of the finest expressions of art via the medium of stone anywhere on the planet. Yet in terms o

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Paul Mavrides: The Original Slacker Artist
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Greeks can be found working in every medium and venue of Modern Art. Many are notable, some notorious; others still, trail braziers into the farthest reaches Western art has yet explored. Paul Mavrides as self-proclaimed “space alien, anarchist, [and] radical/kooky artist” is among those at the frin

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Jean Varda: The Last Bohemia
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Varda’s Philosophy "There are three perfect shapes in the world... the hull of a boat, a violin and a woman's body." "Create Paradise for Others." "We are always talking about the Inferno, we never talk about Paradise." “The Artist essentially wants to recreate water." Jean Vard

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The Greek Behind the Monsters
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
In all the annals of Greek-American Studies there is perhaps no artist more unique or fundamentally influential as Jack P. Pierce. Born Ioannis Piccoulas, in a village near Athens on May 5, 1889, this young shepherd boy was destined to change how the world experienced horror. In 1926 Pierce became t

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Issigonis: The People’s Designer
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis was one of the most creative and celebrated car designers of modern times. Issigonis also forms the British third to the trio of internationally recognized car designers of Greek descent. All of whom came of professional age at virtually the same moment. Alex T

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Greek Dancers and Dance Teams the 1920s through the 1960s: The Condos Brothers
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The four Condos Brothers are among the most acclaimed rhythm tap dancers in the history of modern dance. Totally absorbed into the art of dance each of the four brothers is individually universally recognized as a Master Dancer based on their long careers on stage and as documented in many Hollywood films.

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Greek Dancers and Dance Teams the 1920s through the 1960s
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The four Condos Brothers are among the most acclaimed rhythm tap dancers in the history of modern dance. Totally absorbed into the art of dance each of the four brothers is individually universally recognized as a Master Dancer based on their long careers on stage and as documented in many Hollywood films. Many professional dancers today still model themselves on the steps and routines these four Greek-Americans created.

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Early Greek Dancers Worked Hollywood
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
That Americans know more about artists of Greek descent than the general Greek-American community is a commonplace that deserves close study. Why the Greek American community would so whole-heartedly support “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and so generally ignore its dozens and dozens of professional and struggling artists is a critical research topic awaiting research.

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Dancers of the Early 20th Century
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
During the 1960s and 1970s, whenever friends or relatives came from out of town, my parents would take them to Chicago’s New Greektown. In that era, a new Greektown reappeared almost overnight with stylist nightclubs and restaurants lining the intersections of Lawrence, Broadway and Lincoln Avenues. Today, not even one Greek-owned night club remains in the area.

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King Georges: The Happy Life of Georges Guétary
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
As with so much of Greek diaspora history Georges Guétary’s life and career are still largely unexplored. If we knew more about this veteran performer we could determine with more certainty, at the very least, the exact role this Greek performer played in popular European and American music.

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The Very First Greek Records In Old Ameriki
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Commercial recordings of Greek music in North America date from 1896 with the appearance of vocalist Michael Arachtingi on eight Berliner seven inch discs. Even at this early date songs such as ‘Smyrana Serenade (Ber 1002),’ ‘Great Constantinopolitan Song (Ber 1005),’ and ‘Cozaghaki Song (Ber 1004)’cited as being sung “in Turkish” all suggest an Asia Minor origin, or at the very least, musical exposure to Arachtingi’s musical repertoire.

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The Kanarini Of Ameriki: Madame Koula
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Kyriaki Yiortzi Antonopoulos was the first internationally successful Greek female vocalist who made North America her permanent home. Known simply as Madame Koula (Koula being the diminutive of Kyriaki), this woman proved to be so popular that between 1916-17 and 1927, she recorded at least 199 individual songs. No other female vocalist of Greek heritage in North America made or sold as many records during this same period.

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Early Greek Dancers Make A Splash in North America
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Greeks have always been dancers. One of the most enduring stereotypic images of contemporary Greek Americans shows them dancing to their hearts’ content. If there is one thing that can be said indisputably about Greek public and private entertainment, it is this: Greeks really like to dance.

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Hebe and her Sisters: Who and What Defines Decency in Public Art?
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
One Classical Greek statue after another is being deemed too indecent to remain in public view. At first, it seemed just one man's point of view. Now it appears nothing short of a movement by a powerful faction of the American political Right. Public art should always reflect public values.

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Taki 183: Greek American Graffiti Artist
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
When the 17-year-old Greek American known as "Taki 183" became an instant popular culture sensation in the early 1970’s, most adults considered him little more than a common street vandal. Taki 183 was the very first New York City teenager recognized by the media for ‘tagging’ or writing one’s name (albeit in a stylized signature) on subway cars.

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“Yes! We Have No Bananas,” Popular Old Song Composed by Greek
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Few American songs are as closely linked to Greek immigrants as the 1920’s vaudeville favorite, “Yes! We Have No Bananas.” Aside from the Greek fruit vendor mentioned in the lyrics, a Greek immigrant has long been identified as the one responsible for first inspiring the song.

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Rania A. Bossonis: Diva of American Tribal Belly Dancing
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Ourania Androniki Bossonis is yet another highly successful professional woman of Greek descent. As with many other women of her generation, Bossonis has simultaneously mastered and transformed her chosen field of expertise. She is a professional, multi-award winning belly dancer.

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A Study in Bronze: Mercene Karkadoulias
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Since the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, the artists and artisans of Greece, have been directly associated with public art. The Ancient Greeks are often credited with perfecting the notion that public buildings, statues and cityscape design must embody the highest ideals and values of the community. That Greek artists and artisans still contribute and remain creative within this broader, and now, Western tradition of Modern Public Art is too often simply ignored.

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The Visual Politics of Stephan Pastis
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
It doesn’t seem to have occurred to anyone that Greeks in America are among the leading political cartoonists of our times. Yet the evidence is all there for the watchful reader.

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Greek Island Music Lives On With Grecophon Record's Legacy
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald

I learned of Skevos (Steve) Zembellas’ death nearly a month ago in an e-mail. No date, no cause of death was reported to me. I had not heard or spoken to Skevos in well over 20 years.
Skevos Zembellas was owner/producer of the Grecophon Record Company of Gary, Indiana.

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Greeks and the American Folk Music Revival
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Beginning in the 1820?s, Greeks were found in all forms and genres of American music. At times Greeks appear as the subjects of ballads and popular songs; during other moments of American musical history, as performers and promoters.

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Magafan Sisters' Artisitc Endeavors
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
In 1943, Ethel Magafan was awarded the commission to paint a mural at the Recorder of Deeds Building 515 D Street NW (corner of D and sixth Streets NW) in Washington DC. This 5’ 8" x 14’ 4" tempera on board mural (which was installed in 1944) is still to be seen in the main foyer.

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The Magafan Sister Murals of 1941
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
In 1941, so much was going on in the lives of the two Magafan sisters it is difficult to sort out which murals they were researching, painting, applying for and/or completing. As far as can be determined the first mural completed in 1941, was Ethel?s Prairie Fire that can still be seen at the Madill, Oklahoma Post Office (223 West Lillie Blvd 73446) at the corner of 3rd and Lillie.

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Art is a Hammer: The Magafan Sisters
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Ethel and Jenne Magafan are forgotten figures in the history of Greek-American art. Born identical twins of a Greek immigrant father and a Polish mother, the Magafan sisters were first to reach fame as regional artists of the American West. The murals from the first half of their careers are now recognized national treasures and as such are often found on the National Registry of Historical Places.

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Art is a Hammer: The Magafan Sisters
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
The deprivations of the Great American Depression had been preceded by the excesses of the Roaring Twenties. While virtually every school child in America knows this historical sequence what is removed from textbook studies are the social and political upheavals that were also fundamental to this time.

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A Working Artist’s Life
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Helen Perry, an art teacher at East Denver High School, invited Frank Mechau (1904-1946), an established painter and muralist in Colorado, to speak to her class. Mechau was so impressed with the Magafan twins he invited them to his studio.

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The Twined Muses: Ethel and Jenne Magafan
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Enough evidence now exists to begin seriously questioning the manner in which the history and experiences of Greek women in North America are depicted in print.  Inevitably portrayed as the weaker vessel, Greek-American women, in academic as well as journalistic accounts, rarely hear of themselves as anything more than the shadowy helpmates of Greek men. This image neither agrees with everyday community experience nor the public record. 

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The Picasso of Custom Cars
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
ROUND LAKES, Ill.-George Barris is one of the leading industrial designers of modern times. Without exaggeration, this one man’s vision has literally reinvented how the entire world sees and designs automobiles. It would be safe to say that few—if any—of you reading this article have not seen, somewhere, a Barris design.

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Paul Mavrides: The Original Slacker Artist
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Round Lakes, Ill. - Greeks can be found working within every medium and venue of Modern Art. Many are notable, some notorious; others still, trailblazers into the farthest frontiers of  Western art. Paul Mavrides, self-proclaimed “space alien, anarchist, [and] radical/kooky artist” is among those at the fringe.

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L. Cavadias: A Recorded Life
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
ROUND LAKES, Ill. Little is documented on the early history of Greek music in North America. Public documents are scarce. Yet it remains a fact of American popular music history that since the 1820s all forms of Greek traditional and contemporary music have always sold extremely well on this Continent. Not simply records but sheet music, piano-rolls, music boxes, songbooks, and musical instruments have all been avidly sought after items.

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Eddie Constantine, the Greek ‘Tough Guy’
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
ROUND LAKES, Ill. -  The story of Edward Constantinowsky is an excellent case study on how complicated Greek American studies can be when one follows the global implications of the Hellenic Diaspora to its logical conclusions.

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Sounds of the Season: Apokreas in Northern Greece
By Steve Frangos
The National Herald
Round Lakes, Ill. - During the Great Migration from Greece in the first few decades of the twentieth century, many folk customs that literally spanned centuries were lost overnight.

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