Dimitris Polychroniadis Archives

A Series of Pop-Humorous Dioramas by Dimitris Polychroniadis

Dimitris Polychroniadis (previously here and here) is a stage designer, architect, and artist who lives and works in Athens, Greece. His works are an anguished, yet darkly humorous comment on the harsh realities faced by his country, and much of the world at the moment.

“Repent,” his latest series of surreal, mixed media diorama sculptures, both takes a look back on the mistaken choices of the recent past, and towards a present and future where lessons have been learned.

Can the deconstructive forces of a crisis, become the motivation for self awareness, both individually and collectively? Humor, romance and dark surrealism are the vehicle via which we attempt to explore the meaning of Repentance. Dimitris Polychroniadis reveals a series of mixed media, diorama sculptures. A colorful miniature world that acts as the setting for the unraveling of (somewhat unsettling) human stories. The cultures of the lowest common denominator, advertisement and slogan art are presented in conjunction with social and political utopias of the early 20th century.

“Repent” will be on exhibit till May 11, 2013, at the Metamorfosis Gallery in Thessaloniki, Greece.You can visit the artist’s site to see more,

Here are some images from the series for your viewing pleasure.

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Home Sweet Home: A Satirical Diorama Sculpture by Greek Artist Polychroniadis

Mixed media diorama sculpture 50cm X 50cm X 65cm (h.)

Life-size sign comprised of a steel and timber structure, plywood, acrylic color and spotlights with dimensions 655cm X 600cm X 770cm (h).

Greek visual artist Polychroniadis’s (previously here and here) latest work is a two part piece; one is a mixed media diorama sculpture, and the other is a huge life-size sign made out of steel and wood. The piece was exhibited as part of a section named ‘Stopover’ at ‘Action Field Kodra’, an annual contemporary art show that takes place in the derelict site of the Kodra ex-military barracks in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.

The exhibition was themed around the ideas of homeland, with references to the history of Thessaloniki.

Via the description of the piece:

The sculpture attemts to reconcile imagery from war-zone bombed residential buildings (e.g. Syria, Lybia, Lebanon), with early 20th century Modernist Utopias and a sense of carelessness or defiance of lurking danger.
The title comes from a hit song, written in 1823 by Henry Bishop and John Howard Payne. Being part of American popular culture for more than 150 years, it has been heavily used as a title for books, films etc. It has become an almost iconic slogan, also embedded in numerous doormats around the globe.

Link to Polychroniadis’s site.

Hit the jump to see more images.

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A Humorous Diorama of Athens Rocked by Protests

Image credit: Dimitris Polychroniadis & Michalis Dalanikas. Greek Architect and Scenographer, Dimitris Polychroniadis created his newest work for the cover of the upcoming issue of Athens Voice, the city’s most…

“The Miracle of Fluo Colours” – A Satirical Project on Religion and Politics in the US

“The Miracle of Fluo Colours” is a satirical art project by Dimitris Polychroniadis, an architect and scenographer based in Athens, Greece.

Dimitris feels that the humorous message behind his pop sculptures in his photographs is highly relevant to the present situation in his country, although it directly refers to the absurd, almost hysterical levels to which religion has been pitted against politics in the US.

Dimitris says,

Religion often serves as an emotional ‘lender of last resort’ in times of crisis. The idea for this series of maquette sculptures, comes from Christian church signs and billboards in the US. By stripping these religious quotes away from their physical and emotive context, the ‘message’ becomes more absolute, almost surreal. To emphasize this further, the text size has been exaggerated in scale (compared to the figurines) and colour. The project is somewhat ‘street’ influenced by large scale advertising and slogan graffiti. The title of the series generates a contrast: The notion of God-sent miracles as an integral part of religious faith, against the marvels of man-made, modern age, industrial technology and it’s products such as fluorescent materials and colours.

The photographs were shot by Dimitris in collaboration with Michalis Dalanikas.

Link to the site.

Check out more images after the jump.

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