Tuesday 29 January 2013

Kostas Koulendianos



Kostas Koulendianos: The last Acrobat of Modernism, at the Benaki Museum, Pireos Street Annex.

Born in Athens in 1915, Koulendianos studied at the Athens School of Fine arts and then in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere.

'The main material I use is iron, ever harder, heavier, more difficult to work with. At the same time I try to remove some of its crude weight and give it motion. My main concerns are space, form and light.  How can each piece be positioned in space and accept light so that it can gain presence?'











Untitled, 1948, (bronze)





Untitled, 1946-47 (bronze)





Untitled, 1947 (bronze)





Tribune to Henri Laurenz, 1952 (bronze)





Reclining Woman, 1950, (bronze)





Skyros, 1952 (bronze)





Tribute to Henri Laurenz, 1952, (bronze)

'For forty years I have been observing Kostas Koulendianos' work.  I clearly remember when, in the early days, dissatisfied with a female head he was modelling out of clay he began to distort it in an effort to get beyond the familiar academic framework. This event was the beginning of a totally new approach in his practice'. George Kandillis.









Kythera, 1962 (welded bronze, tin and copper on wood)





Untitled, 1962 (welded bronze on iron)





Acrobat, 1957 (iron and bronze)





Seated Woman, 1955-56 (welded iron)





Eleni, 1950 (batik)





Untitled, 1962, (welded bronze, tin and copper on iron)





Untitled, 1949 (welded bronze on iron)





Untitled, 1966, (marble)





Untitled, 1962 (welded brass, tin and copper on wood)






Untitled, 1983, (tapestry using metal thread)





No blinds this time, natural light flooding the gallery, and a glimpse of the courtyard beyond




Reclining Woman, 1960 (welded bronze on iron)





Untitled, 1965, (bronze)





Athlete, 1963 (bronze)





Le Mollard, 1960, (welded lead)





looking out




Sail of Cherbouurg, 1975, (bolted aluminium)





Rythm, 1971, (arc-welded iron)





Parallel Rythm, 1970 (tapestry, woven by Marie-Therese Jacquet)





Relief, 1988 (bolted iron)






Irish Landscape, 1975, (Tapestry woven by Marie-Therese Jacquet)






Rythm IV, 1972, Tapestry






Parallel Rythm, 1978, Tapestry






Tapestry, 1971






Rythm I, 1971 (Tapestry woven by Marie-Therese Jacquet).

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