Capturing the sea in sculpture
For years Sakellaris Koutouzis has been teaching mathematics to the children of Kalymnos. Besides being a valuable teacher, Koutouzis is also a gifted sculptor who works predominantly with brass and is inspired by the island’s people. «Morphes tou Aigaiou» (Aegean Figures), an exhibition of the artist’s works currently on display at the Ionian Center in the old Plaka district of Athens, has now been extended to Sunday. Based on traditional techniques, Koutouzis’s works emanate an inner strength that makes them somehow familiar. The artist set up his workshop on the southern Aegean island in 1980 and is a member of that rare breed of creative people who prefer to struggle for their art, far from cities, galleries and publicity. His subject matter is mainly drawn from the world of the sea and its people, such as the sponge divers, who are inextricably linked with the island’s culture and economy. Born on Kalymnos in 1950, Koutouzis’s anthropocentric sculptures are an indirect tribute to the marine world – free of the usual folkloric elements. Ionian Center, 11 Lysiou, Plaka, tel 210.324.6614.
