ITHACA REGAINED

GREEK ARTISTS IN NEW YORK

Nicolas Vlavianos

Born in Greece in 1929, Vlavianos left Athens for Paris in 1957 where he studied sculpture as an apprentice to Ossip Zadkine. He was selected to represent Greece in the VI São Paulo Biennial in 1961 and then decided to emigrate to Brazil, although he currently spends a good part of his time in both Athens and New York.

Over the years, Vlavianos’s forms have undergone a constant process of renewal while at the same time maintaining a forceful and identifiable structure. He has successfully managed to preserve his own highly ordered perceptions in his search for meaning within his work while at the same time allowing himself to be open to the flow of outside influences. The result of this dialectic is that throughout the different periods of his work there is a remarkable unity which presents a profile both progressive and dynamic. His choice of certain metals (stainless steel, aluminum and brass predominate) and the manner in which they are treated promote this unity.

He considers the process of making sculpture inherent to the result, and the structuring of the works is directly related to their execution. Through the bending, welding, and modeling of his material, he captures an essence -- the moment when shape becomes form and the momentary gesture is registered forever, impervious to change.

Vlavianos has exhibited widely in South America and Europe as well as the United States. His work is in the collections of numerous private individuals and prominent institutional collections, including the Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo, Brazil, and the Ministry of Education of Greece.