In Southampton, A World Famous Iconographer Wraps Up His Final Installation

High up on a cascade of steel scaffolding, George Filippakis pastes his canvas to the ceiling — with good maintenance, he says, the Byzantine art will last forever, leaving a legacy that’s both personal and theological.

Mr. Filippakis, 76, has been an iconographer specializing in Byzantine art for nearly his entire adult life. World famous for his craft, Mr. Filippakis has completed iconography for 95 churches in the United States. And now, he said he’s retiring after one final installation: at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons in Shinnecock Hills.

The church’s sanctuary, completed in 2013, was at first barren, colored by a white stone, lightly tinted by grays and beige. Over the past two weeks, Mr. Filippakis worked on covering the stone with color and canvas — the final part of the three-phase art installation.

“I feel very well,” Mr. Filippakis said, standing on a level of his scaffolding inside the church. “I’m still creating something — this is basic creation.”

“I think this is going to be my last,” he added.

From the age of 11, in Crete, Mr. Filippakis started his apprenticeship in Byzantine iconography, training in a church for seven years under iconographer Stylianos Kartakis. He then attended the School of Fine Arts in Athens for formal training, before moving to the United States — Syosset — at the age of 24.

“George is really one of the very best. He’s brilliant,” said Father Constantine Lazarakis, the church’s presbyter. “We took proposals from five or six iconographers when we got started … George was just the best on a lot of fronts.”

Father Lazarakis explained that Byzantine iconography is distinct from styles of realism, popular in Renaissance paintings — it doesn’t attempt to emulate physical realities; instead, a purposeful abstraction.

In designing the church’s installation, Father Lazarakis explained that two considerations come into play: the artist, and the church’s tradition.

“Many of the elements of the icons are established in tradition and need to be adhered to,” the presbyter said. “The trained Byzantine iconographer knows the tradition, knows the art form, knows those requirements — and then within that he has a great deal of creative freedom.”

The first phase of iconography installation, finished in 2015, concerned the sanctuary’s vault ceiling at the front of the room. The second phase covered the dome of the sanctuary in iconography, and was completed in 2018.

The third and final phase of the iconography installation attends to the sanctuary’s wings — two ceilings on each side of the room.

On one side, Mr. Filippakis installed icons depicting the birth of Jesus; on the other, icons depict “the deposition of the cross,” Father Lazarakis said. Across the room, an icon of Christ’s resurrection will be paired with an opposing image of “the feast day,” he added.

Funding for the project came from the church’s patrons. Father Lazarakis said each icon in the sanctuary of the church has a specific sponsor.

“There are members of our community and friends of our community, who believe in what we’re doing,” Father Lazarakis said. “This is an extraordinary community.”

For Mr. Filippakis, the artistic process starts long before he arrives at the church to install the iconography. He spent nine months in his Woodbury studio painting large sections canvas to then paste — with glue — onto the ceilings of the church. At the church, he uses printed diagrams to map out where each piece goes.

Icons by Mr. Filippakis are installed at a number of New York’s Greek Orthodox churches, according to a list compiled by The New York Times in 2002. In Island Park at Kimisis Tis Theotokou; St. Paul’s Chapel and Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Manhattan; and Transfiguration of Christ in Mattituck.