From Monumental Sculpture to Street Art

Taking the George Zongolopoulos exhibition as his starting point, Thanassis Moutsopoulos, Associate Professor of Art History and Theory of Culture, University of Crete, continues his series of lectures on the evolution of art in public space in March.

Public art in Athens seems an impossible affair, compressed in a Procrustean bed between the eternal marble busts and uncontrollable inscriptions on the walls of its apartment blocks. Together with its neoclassical design, Athens inherited a few dozen statues and busts of the warriors of the Greek Revolution of 1821, members of the Society of Friends (Filiki Eteria) and Philhellenes. Later on the new heroes were (inevitably) the politicians but, next to them, one could find memorial statues of young military men together with mayors, poets, actors ...

The 20th century’s Modernism would add new dimensions in sculpture. The experiments appeared from France to the Soviet Union but, at some point, the problem seemed not to be limited to the artistic form, but it was mainly focused on the ever more peculiar role of monumental art in a metropolis and a society that changed drastically during the last century. The frenzied rhythms of contemporary urban life, the growing cocooning, the eclipses of public life and the new aesthetic standards make any bust seem incongruous.

Implementation: Thanasis Moutsopoulos
Associate Professor, History of Art and Cultural Theory, Technical University of Crete

Wednesday 13/03, 19.00-21.00 | From Public Art to Street Art

Free admission by online pre-registration (the lecture is conducted in Greek)
Pre-registration for Members starting on Tuesday 05/03*, and for the public on Wednesday 06/03 at 12.00
*At this event, Members enjoy a day of priority in booking (there is a certain number of seats per event).

Simultaneous translation into the Greek Sign Language will be provided.

See the first lecture titled "From Classical to Modern Sculpture" (13/02)