The monumental works of Vassos Kapandais
For artists working with monumental sculptures and epic or commemorative themes, public open spaces are probably where they would most wish to have their works installed. But in a country where commissions for public sculptures are scarce, many do not see their work in public view and in dialogue with the public sentiment. This is one of the reasons that explains why Vassos Kapandais (1924-1990), an artist who put most of his creativity into public sculpture, is unknown not just to the broad public but to a large segment of the art world as well. «Vassos Kapandais – Sculptor,» an exhibition at the Pireos Street annex of the Benaki Museum, is the first large exhibition on the artist’s work. Several years ago, artist George Hadjimichalis, the exhibition’s curator, happened to be walking along the Chysostomou Smyrnis Square in Nea Smyrni. Deeply impressed by a sculptural ensemble of 10 autonomous works that he noticed on the square, he asked about the artist who had made them and discovered an oeuvre filled with references to the history of this country, particularly the Asia Minor disaster. The son of Greek refugees from Pergamon in northwestern Anatolia, Kapandais was especially sensitive to that chapter of Greek history. The 1922 uprooting of the Greek population is the prevalent theme in the Nea Smyrni ensemble yet there are also references to the Armenian genocide. (The sculptures are illustrated in the exhibition’s supplementary catalog.) It was a project that Kapandais worked on for 25 years. Although commemorative themes and monumental sculpture occupy the largest part of the artist’s work, Kapandais also worked on private works, many of them rendered in small scale. Stylistically, both public and private sculptures share a resemblance. Mostly made in bronze and with a rough finish, Kapandais’s sculptures have a frontality that brings to mind ancient Greek sculpture of the Archaic period. Besides art, Kapandais had studied archaeology and was knowledgeable about ancient Greek art. Based on his writings, we know that the sculptures on the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia in Aegina was an influence in his work. So was the work of Yannoulis Halepas. Kapandais also produced hundreds of drawings, yet, unlike many sculptors, he did not make preparatory sketches of his three-dimensional works. He also made medallions and, to make a living, worked on the models of mass-produced ceramics with relief sculpture. He was a prolific artist, appreciated by his peers. However, he rarely exhibited his work and did not even keep an archive. His isolation is one of the reasons that has kept his work in the shadows of the modern history of Greek sculpture. It is within this history that the exhibition helps add a new chapter. At the Pireos St annex of the Benaki Museum (138 Pireos, 210.345.3111), through May 6.
