Central Image: Photographic archive of Lydia and Nefeli Papadimitriou, “Throne with forbidden spare parts”, Thodoros, 1966

The workshop of Greek sculptor Thodoros is now open to the public. At the opening, which took place on Friday, October 29, a new program was presented that includes activities organised by Cities in Balance, an interdisciplinary centre for the study of sculpture, architecture and communication in urban public spaces. The program, in addition to the series of lectures on Thodoros' groundbreaking ideas regarding art in the public space, also includes speech (word), art, audio-visual media, photography, architecture and design workshops, thus encompassing the entire spectrum of the sculptor's operations and emphasising the importance of his influence on the respective modern Greek sectors.

Thodoros Papadimitriou, known as sculptor Thodoros, was an important pioneer of sculpture in Greece. He was one of the few sculptors who dared to create heavy metal structures to the standards of Modern American Sculpture. Many of his works are of monumental dimensions, difficult to fit within Greek museums, which was in itself a subject of his artistic research.

Thodoros’ workshop, “Phaethon”, Thodoros, 2008 | Photo by Olympianna Miliaki

Having worked in the US in the 70s, he kept track of the discussions about space that had already started in the 60s, in the dawn of Minimalist Art. The influence of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception and Martin Heidegger and his successors, radically changed the perception of space, to the extent that existential space seemed to have an ontological priority over architectural or sculptural space. Thus, they started to define and clearly include it in the artistic specifications of the time. Existential and architectural spaces begin to interact significantly. The concepts of the personal and the collective as well as the private and the public incrementally weave the new palimpsest of the reconfigured modern city.

Thodoros’ workshop, Athens, Cities in Balance | Photo by Vasiliki Chrysikou

The artist himself tried through the written word to explain his need for Public Art within a, still, neoclassical city. Elaborating on the concepts of balance, communal ownership and trust, he was perhaps the only (except for Takis) unconventional figure of sculptural expression in Greece. The abandonment of the sculptural pedestal, an important demand from as far back as the period of modernism and ready-mades, became an object of study for Thodoros. The concern is not limited to the question of the pedestal as a separate object/base. The pedestal is expanded and treated as an integral part of the sculpture, starting to influence and ultimately determine the essence of the sculpture as an apparently familiar, at least in form, object. The heavy industrial materials he uses not only lack a pedestal but also give the impression that they are floating.

Thodoros’ workshop, Athens, Cities in Balance | Photo by Olympianna Miliaki

The sculptor's singular perception allowed him early on to discard the academic way of thinking and rendering forms, although he never reached complete abstraction. His desire was, as he says in his texts on sculpture, to be in a close relationship with the public. He wanted his works to be placed in public spaces and to interact with everyday life, constituting a comment on it but also influencing it with their presence. Through his structures, he managed to elevate man from mere spectator-recipient to the epicentre of his work, creating an appropriate space for existence while encouraging her/his participation. A performance of objects (!)

Photographic archive of Lydia and Nefeli Papadimitriou, “Handling ΙΙΙ”, Thodoros, 1974

The archaeological-ritualistic part of his work is prominent in most of his works-objects as he unites with his characteristic motifs the modern and industrial with the classical and almost monolithic form, equating them through the common, modern and classical, concept of the "monument". Thodoros, as a mediator between established art forms, architectural volumes, and life and communication “today”, persistently fought to lay the foundations of the new understanding of art, an art that would not know limitations and identities but would be communicative and vocal. With the aim of "reviving culture" as he said himself, he presented multiple events, performances, and installations that deal precisely with this invisible connection between art and construction, irony and respect, artist and viewer, while finally, he was the main contender for the creation of a Museum of Contemporary Art in Greece aiming for the "necessary democratisation of contemporary creation and the education of the viewer".

Thodoros’ workshop, Athens, Cities in Balance | Photo by Vasiliki Chrysikou

In 2016, the long-awaited National Museum of Contemporary Art Αthens (EMST) opens, fulfilling a big part of his vision. Today, four years after his death, his vision is completed with the official opening of his workshop at 34 Propylaion Street in the Koukaki neighbourhood. His multifaceted archive-repository made up of projects, designs for public competitions, and thoughts recorded on paper, video or even on bronze and wood, are presented as a space for communication and interaction. Its profit will be any sort of constructive and creative discussion or practical implementation regarding art and design in the architecture of the urban experience.

The workshops and activities at Thodoros’ workshop are scheduled to continue in the spring of 2023, organised by Cities in Balance under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens.

Lecture and projection room, Thodoros’ workshop, Athens, Cities in Balance | Photo by Olympianna Miliaki

Photographic archive of Lydia and Nefeli Papadimitriou, “Pendulum XI, Thodoros”, 1965

Thodoros’ workshop, Athens, Cities in Balance | Photo by Vasiliki Chrysikou