Exhibition

Dimitris Pikionis: An Aesthetic Topography

14/02/2025

On view through 27 April at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, ‘Dimitris Pikionis: An Aesthetic Topography’ presents the life and work of the architect, painter, sculptor, and editor of the magazine To Trito Mati (The Third Eye), a central figure of 20th-century Greek culture. Curated by Juan Miguel Hernández León and Covadonga Blasco, the exhibition highlights the landscape treatment that Dimitri Pikionis (1887-1968) gave to the accessways to the Acropolis in Athens, full of pictorial references in the pavements, in a long and complex construction process that was completed in 1958.

The exhibits are interspersed with his own words, revealing thoughts, reflections, and autobiographical notes, and show how Pikionis fused tradition with modern abstraction through a study of the creative process behind six of his best-known works, which reflect his view of landscape as a true work of art.

A friend of Giorgio de Chirico, Pikionis studied painting and sculpture in Munich and later in Paris, where he was introduced to the work of Cézanne, Klee, and Rodin. Returning to Greece, he rediscovered his architectural vocation without giving up his passion for painting.

Also emphasized in the exhibition is the role Pikionis played in introducing the avant-gardes in Greece, especially through the creation of To Trito Mati, a reference in aesthetic theory and artistic practices of the period.

Dimitris Pikionis. Drawing of the grid pattern of the design of the path around the Acropolis of Athens, 1954-1957 © 2024 Benaki Museum Athens/Modern Greek Architecture Archives, Dimitris Pikionis Archive