Artists

Stathis Logothetis

Press release

ΕΜΣΤ is is pleased to announce a major retrospective exhibition of the work of seminal Greek painter Stathis Logothetis (1925-1997), titled Stathis Logothetis – Εarth to Earth. Logothetis occupies a singular position in the world of contemporary Greek art: his practice emerged out of a rigorous dialogue with the European avant-garde of his time, though after settling in Greece in 1973 he found himself in a cultural landscape where such exchanges were markedly absent. The visceral power of his work lies in the often violent collapse of boundaries between the components of painting – canvas, pigment and frame – and organic matter: body, skin and blood. In his experimentation, Logothetis sought to animate his paintings through performative action, often employing his own body or the audience's participation. Ultimately, his research would embrace the notions of natural decay and the accidental, grafting them onto his works by surrendering them to the elements. The exhibition marks the first retrospective of the artist's work since his 1994 presentation in Thessaloniki. It brings together approximately 70 works spanning all periods of his artistic career, including key loans from significant private and public collections in Greece and abroad. Furthermore, it features primary, previously unpublished materials from the artist's personal archive and presents original research concerning his extant works. The retrospective aims to foster a deeper understanding of Logothetis' artistic inquiry, emphasising his unique standing among the artistic vanguard of his time, while rekindling interest in his practice through the lenses of ecology and body politics. Simultaneously, it hopes to reveal the profound intersections between his restless cosmopolitanism and his creative output, and to further highlight the lifelong collaborative bond he shared with his brother, the acclaimed Greek-Austrian composer Anestis Logothetis (1921-1994). The exhibition design is by architect Yannis Arvanitis.