Beyond Time – Icon Exhibition by Loukas & Irene Seroglou

"Beyond Time" Icon Exhibition by Loukas & Irene Seroglou

Date: 24.07 to 19.08.2026 Opening Hours: Daily, 09:00–14:00 and 16:00–20:00 Venue: Bürgerspitalkirche St. Jakob, next to the Kammerhofmuseum Gmunden

The title of the exhibition points to the transcendent origin and the timeless dimension of icon painting. Drawing on the mysterious Fayum mummy portraits — which the early Christians developed into one of the most significant forms of spiritual art — a visual language unfolds that makes the invisible tangible. The icon is far more than a devotional image: it is a place of encounter, contemplation and inner transformation. For centuries, monks have meditated upon this "vehicle of heaven," which symbolizes the passage from the visible world into the absolute.

The artist couple Loukas and Irene Seroglou once again presents the thematic diversity and artistic depth of icon painting. Alongside classic depictions of saints, small-format icons framed by Byzantine and Italian book ornamentation will be shown.

Short Biographies

Loukas Seroglou came to Vienna on a scholarship in 1960, where he studied architecture, painting, graphic design and decoration, and participated in numerous competitions and major construction projects, including the development above Franz Josef Bahnhof and the AKH. His artistic journey began with a series of surreal images whose central theme is the question of life's meaning; most of them are in private collections, including that of the Austrian Federal President Dr. Rudolf Kirchschläger. Through years of stays in the monastic republic of Mount Athos in Greece, he discovered his love of icon painting, which he learned from several monks. He is also a state-certified tour guide for Austria and Greece.

Irene P. Seroglou completed her studies at the Athens Conservatory in piano and, after a brief course of philosophy in Luxembourg, came to Vienna to devote herself together with her husband to icon painting, which she learned from various icon painters on Corfu and Crete. Alongside traditional icons, she specializes in combining iconography with realism. In 2025, she was nominated for the St. Leopold Peace Prize of Stift Klosterneuburg.

Icons by Loukas and Irene Seroglou can be found in private collections, monasteries and churches in Austria, Greece, Germany, France and the USA.