Visual Arts in Greece: 1950s–1990s - Part 4/6

Modernism in Greek visual arts has been a dynamic and evolving field throughout the 20^th century, shaped by the country’s rich cultural heritage, political changes, global influences and the advent of new media and technology. It is characterized by the exploration of abstraction, experimental techniques, and the use of modern materials, offering a fascinating glimpse into the complexities of Greek identity, history, tradition and modernity. Through a series of articles, Greek News Agenda presents a brief panorama of the Greek visual art scene in the second half of the 20^th century. The articles are based on the catalogue of the landmark exhibition at the National Gallery “Metamorphoses of the Modern – the Greek Experience”, curated by Dr. Anna Kafetsi (14.5-13.9.1992). The exhibition aimed to address the complex question: “Does a Greek modernism, in fact, exist? And if so, what is its character?” More than 100 Greek artists—both from the Greek metropolis and the Diaspora—were featured in the exhibition and selected for their “autonomous plastic language”. About 50 artists, key figures of the post-war Greek visual art scene, are explored in greater depth in the series.

Visual Arts in Greece: 1950s–1990s – Part 4/6: “From the work to the process”

(Source: Dr Anna Kafetsi, Catalogue of the exhibition “Metamorphoses of the Modern – the Greek Experience”, National Gallery, Athens, 1992, p.191-2)

“After the blurring or even the elimination of the features which differentiate painting and sculpture in the name of a uniform concept of the artistic phenomenon, the sole distinction left was that between two- and three-dimensional works, whether in a pure or a mixed sense […] The center of gravity in the artistic act has shifted from the ultimate aesthetic product to the process by which it is produced. This shift can be studied in terms how, what and why: in other words, of the manner, the result produced and the purpose intended […] The first degree of this shift can be recognized in works based on ready-made material, the search for and exploitation of which is a process requiring resourcefulness […] In other cases, the process is determined not by the use of a tangible and visible material but by the selection and processing of mathematical concepts and systems […] The final result sometimes appears in the form of an object selected out of an infinite variety of other objects, as a predetermined mental form which is discretely underscored, as a piece of sculpture produced using contemporary materials, as a relief which, after preliminary printing using photocopying and photographic media, then has its material damaged and corroded in a number of ways, or as an image which is articulated out of dots, lines and other signs arranged in mathematical order […] One special case is that in which the objects are replaced by images of them […] which exist as natural presences only for as long as they are projected on to special surfaces […]”

FEATURED ARTISTS (PART 4): CHRYSSA ROMANOS, PAPASPYROU, DAVOU, THEODOROS, LOGOTHETIS, TZIVELOS, PASTRA, LAZONGAS, ALITHINOS

Chryssa Romanos, Luna Park International, 1965, collage on canvas, 200 x 200 cm, EMST (top left), Serigraphy from the folio Some Pages from a Diary, 1973, 65 x 50 cm, EMST (top right), Installation view of the exhibition: Chryssa Romanos. The Search for Happiness for as Many as Possible, Photo by Paris Tavitian, EMST (lower)

CHRYSSA ROMANOS (Athens, 1931 – Athens, 2006), studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and, in 1961, moved to Paris. The two decades she spent in France (1961–1981) proved crucial in shaping her artistic identity. She became part of the circle of the influential critic Pierre Restany and the Nouveau Réalistes, emerging as one of the key female figures in the Paris art scene of the 1960s. Her work is characterized by open-ended narrative structures, mechanical reproduction, randomness, transparency, and the concept of play. From her earliest works, themes such as the labyrinth, critique of consumerism, political engagement with social inequalities and injustice, the democratisation of art, the osmosis of art and everyday life, and the interest in travel recur as central motifs. These ideas evolve as the artist matures and as the social and political landscape around her changes. Romanos showcased her work in solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad, and participated in numerous international art events, including the São Paulo Biennale (1965, 1994), the Venice Biennale (1976), the Istanbul Biennale (1997), various Paris Salons, and Europalia (1982). (Source: EMST, Contemporary Greek Art Institute, ISET)

Rena Papaspyrou, Images in matter, 1995, Ink on wood, metal and mosaic tiles, 140 x 320 cm, EMST (top) Episodes in matter, 1980, Anodized aluminium, 93 x 95 cm, EMST (lower left), Magic Rooms, 1985, detached wall surface, cloth, oil pastel, 200 x 370 x 25 cm, EMST (lower right)

RENA PAPASPYROU (Athens, 1938) studied painting and mosaic at the Athens School of Fine Arts before continuing her studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1961-67). From the outset of her career, she favored working with unconventional surfaces rather than traditional canvas, including planks, metal sheets, pieces of paper, as well as segments of walls and mosaics from old houses and industrial spaces. In her work, she seeks to emphasize the conceptual nature of art by highlighting the existing forms and shapes of these surfaces, intervening with various materials such as papier-mâché, pencil, light bulbs, and more. Through these interventions, she reexamines both surface and space, affirming their artistic materiality. Since the 1990s Papaspyrou has created numerous large-scale installations and environments. She has presented many solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad, and participated in significant international art events, including Avanguardia e Sperimentazione (Venice, Italy, 1978), Europalia (Brussels, 1982), the São Paulo Bien (1983), and the Kassel Documenta (2017). (Source: EMST, Contemporary Greek Art Institute, ISET)

Bia Davou, Sails, 1981 – 1982, Installation with embroidered fabric, variable dimensions, EMST (top), Pillars and clouds, Hypothetical intervention in the Pillars of Olympic Zeus, 1983, photocopy, collage, watercolour, 21 x 29 cm, EMST (lower left), Serial Structures, 1978, ink on graph paper, 17.4 x 24.1 cm, EMST (lower right)

BIA DAVOU (Athens, 1932 – Athens, 1996) studied painting at Costas Iliadis’s studio in Athens. In the mid-1970s, influenced by new computer technology and her belief in the social and communicative nature of art, she conceived and adopted a serial methodology as the organising principle of her practice. Davou then moved on to create three-dimensional compositions using plexiglass and introduced concepts of rhythm, mathematical logic, and the use of computers, which she employed to give form to abstract ideas. By incorporating both material and technological means, and using the Fibonacci system as the basis of her work, she created serial compositions. In the later stages of her work, she returned to gestural, expressionistic forms, while also organizing installations in space. The poetic dimension of her work was further enriched by references to the Odyssey and ancient myths. Davou was a founding member of the group Processes-Systems andpresented her work in solo and group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, including the Alexandria Biennale (1967), the São São Paolo Biennale (1989), and her work was featured at the Kassel Documenta (2017). (Source EMST : Bia Davou – A retrospective, Athens National Gallery)

Theodoros (Papadimitriou), Anti-spectacular theater: Two sculptural one-acts – Elegy for Homo Faber, 1976, poster, blackboard, 4 metal cubes, variable dimensions, EMST (top left), Manipulation ΙΙΙ – Α. The stele-inscription of the Rosetta Stone and Β. The Ballad of Homo Faber, 1977, vinyl record, LP 12 in., paper cover 31 x 31 cm, EMST (top right), Manipulations – Antispectacular, 1974, sculptural installation in 5 parts, tulle, wood, charcoal, colour, mirror, variable dimensions, EMST (lower)

THEODOROS (PAPADIMITRIOU) (Agrinio, 1931 – Athens, 2018) studied sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts and continued his studies at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He travelled to many European countries, Japan, and the USA, and in 1974, he settled permanently in Greece. Theodoros constitutes a unique case of an artist, who employed conventional sculpting mediums in parallel with the emerging mass media and communication. His earliest compositions, made of steel or bronze, were experiments exploring equilibrium. Over time, he incorporated additional materials such as stone, marble, glass, plexiglass, wood, rope, cloth, and rubber. His work evolved into a more immediate and free form of expression, incorporating various kinds of performances with a particular focus on audience participation. He also published numerous texts in newspapers and periodicals and authored several books. Theodoros exhibited his works repeatedly at Salons in Paris and held numerous solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad. He participated in major events, including the São Paulo Biennale and the Alexandria Biennale (1963), the Brussels Europalia (1982), and the Kassel Documenta (2017). (Source Athens National Gallery, EMST)

Stathis Logothetis, Torso, 1981, wood, string, canvas, 121 × 45 × 9 cm, EMST (left), E273, 1980, mixed media, 200 × 100 × 210 cm, – In Ε273, the artist’s body was temporarily enveloped within the work itself, Alpha Bank collection, EMST, installation view, ANTIDORON, Friedericianum, Kassel, photo Mathias Voeltzke (right)

STATHIS LOGOTHETIS (Pyrgos, Eastern Romylia – present-day Burgas, 1925 – Athens, 1997) moved with his family to Thessaloniki in 1934. He initially began studying Medicine, but soon switched to music. During this time, he also became involved with painting. Until the late 1970s, he travelled and painted in various European countries, including Western and Eastern Germany, Italy, and the former Yugoslavia. In 1973, he settled in Athens. During his mature work period, Logothetis abandoned the conventional use of canvas and suggested a subversive function of art, reflecting the international avant-garde trends of the time, particularly in a neo-Dadaist spirit. His artistic constructions, often made of cheap, worn materials – especially fabrics and strings – highlighted the ravages of time and the role of chance in art. The creation process frequently required the active participation of the viewer or the physical presence of the artist. Logothetis exhibited his work in solo, group and international exhibitions in Greece and abroad, including Avantgarde Griechenland (Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, 1967-1969), the São Paulo Biennale (1975), Avanguardia e Sperimentazione (Modena and Venice, 1978), Europalia (Brussels, 1982), and his work was featured at the Kassel Documenta (2017). (Source: Athens National Gallery, Contemporary Greek Art Institute, ISET)

Christos Tzivelos, Exhibition Modelling Phenomena at the Benaki Museum (2017-18): Dynamo, 1991-1993, installation, light, aluminium, electric generator, 550 cm (top), X-Ray, 1984, lamp, mixed media, 35 cm (lower left), Iron Pyrimacha, 1985, installation, light, wax, (lower right), Benaki Museum – NEON Foundation

CHRISTOS TZIVELOS (Athens, 1949 – 1995) graduated from the Athens Technological institute and, in 1972, moved permanently to Paris, where he continued his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (1972-1976) and the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture (1976-1990). He worked as an assistant to Costas Tsoclis (1976-1981) and the sculptor Takis after 1982, participating in the construction of the Signals in the La Défense, Paris. Early in his career, Tzivelos created in-situ conceptual installations focused on the rhetoric of the image. In the exhibition To Pierre and Marie (1982-84), he first introduced the element of light in luminous devices and glass globes containing enclosed objects. From that point onward, light became the materia prima of his sculptures. Alchemy, Greek mythology, philosophy and cosmology were intertwined in his characteristic symbolic installations of iron, light and wax (or resin), emerging in the space like “magic signals”. Since 1986, Tzivelos worked on series of insect projections onto walls using a simple flashlight. His works were inspired by the Heraclitian idea of coinciding opposites: light-darkness, presence-absence, and beginning-end. Tzivelos presented his work in numerous exhibitions in Greece and France. In 2017-18 a retrospective exhibition titled Mοdelling Phenomena took place at the Benaki Museum in collaboration with the NEON Foundation. (Source: Contemporary Greek Art Institute, ISET)

Nausika Pastra, Connection VII (from the series “Proportions III”), 1982–1984, aluminum and paint, 300 cm, Athens National Gallery (top left), Synectron – square – circle, 1968-1976, duraluminium, 19.5 x 81 x 81 cm, EMST (top right), Analogiques, 1976, 21 framed lithographic prints, 24 x 24 cm (EMST) (lower)

NAUSIKA PASTRA (Kalamata, 1921 – Athens, 2011) began studying sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1957-1962) and later studied Sociology in Paris (1967-1973). Since 1968, interested in the poetic potential of mathematical systems, she developed a personal artistic language in which mathematical relations and experimentation with geometric forms played a central role. This culminated in Synectron, a dynamic new two-dimensional shape formed by the combination of a circle and a square, part of her Analogic series, for which the French State awarded her a patent in 1971. Eventually, it incorporated the third dimension in sculptures based on semicircle and right-angle patterns, which in the 1990s became more dynamically assertive in three-dimensional space. Her work evolved into a representation of the material aspect of things in both space and time. In 1963, she held her first solo exhibition at the Wurthle Gallery in Vienna, followed by solo exhibitions in Greece (from 1971) and abroad. She also participated in several group exhibitions, including the Contemporary Art in Dusseldorf (1973), Europalia in Belgium (1982), the Alexandria Biennale (1982), and her work was featured at the Kassel Documenta (2017). (Source: Athens National Gallery)

Yorgos Lazongas, Palimpsest, 1977, mixed media, 70 x 100.2 cm, EMST, Blind Painting – Alekton 1 [What is not spoken], 1988, spray paint on bedsheet (acrylic), 260 x 230 cm, EMST, Elements, 1970 – 1979, mixed media construction, 71 x 171 cm, Athens National Gallery

YORGOS LAZONGAS (Larissa, 1945 – Athens, 2022) studied architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1963-1970), but eventually devoted himself to painting. In 1976 he studied painting in Paris. He initially focused on imprinting on the painting surface, while also seeking to penetrate space. By overlapping or erasing successive layers of forms, often on transparent surfaces, he highlighted the variable and fleeting traces of the image, much like palimpsests. From the 1980s onward, his work extended further into space, often taking the form of visual installations, and incorporated various media (prints, photography, video, drawing, painting, etc) depending on his expressive needs. The traces-imprints of human bodies on large textile surfaces became a new figurative and conceptual reference point of his works. His allusions to ancient artworks suggested that his concerns were timeless. Lazongas’ solo exhibitions have been mainly in Greece, while he also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the Europalia (1982), the São Paulo Biennale (1983), and the Kassel Documenta (2017). In 2008 he created a permanent installation for ‘Eleonas’ Athens metro station. (Source: Contemporary Greek Art Institute, ISET)

Dimitris Alithinos, Αnthroposophies–Theosophies, 2002, video, sound, light, 4 concrete mixers, bed, soil, ash and water, variable dimensions, EMST (top), A Happening, 1973, plaster, wood, tape recorder, lamp, 140 x 153 x 100 cm, EMST (lower left), Seventy-Second Concealment, Greek Pavilion, 1997, Biennale di Venezia (lower right)

DIMITRIS ALITHINOS (Athens, 1945) studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts and continued his studies in Rome, at the Accademia di Belle Arti (1970-1974) and at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris (1976-1980). His first solo exhibitions in Greece (1972-73), which involved constructions and artistic actions, were organized in the context of the political unrest of the dictatorship and the avant-garde (and often provocative) art events of the era. Around the same time, he began his interventions in public spaces in various European cities (Plastic Actions in space). His work incorporates references to cultural and mythical symbols from various eras, emphasising the multiple dimensions of the artistic action over time. In the 1980s, he began his Concealments series – ritual actions carried out in public or private spaces (e.g., galleries, museums) worldwide, where his works (usually large installations) were placed underground, thus making a comment on the meaning of time and memory. To date, more than 170 Concealments have been completed globally. He participated in several international events, such as the São Paolo Biennale (1983), the Istanbul Biennale (1989), the Venice Biennale (1997), and the Kassel Documenta (2017). (Source: Contemporary Greek Art Institute, ISET)

I.A.