Gerolymatos Dionyssios

Originally coming from the island of Kefalonia, the sculptor received his first drawing classes with Georgios Papadimitriou-Phaion in 1954. He went on to study sculpture with Yannis Pappas at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1959-1963) and at the same time attended bronze casting and plaster moulding classes with Nikos Kerlis. In 1966-1970, he collaborated with the Archaeological Agency. Among other things, he served as chairman of the Sculptors’ Association and a member of the Central Council of Contemporary Monuments.

His work has been presented in Greek and international solo and group exhibitions, including Panhellenic exhibitions, the 1971 “Biennale Internationale des Jeunes Artistes” in Paris, the Alexandria Biennale in 1974, in which he won the third prize, and the exhibition “Contemporary Greek Sculpture”, held at the Hakone Museum of Art, Tokyo in 1976. He has also participated in many international sculpture symposia.

Dionyssis Gerolymatos works with hard materials – stone, marble, cement – in order to create works of a broad thematic range, the fruit of free inspiration or commissions. His oeuvre is characterized by formalisation, fragmentation, an enigmatic atmosphere and monumentality. Exploring the expressive potential of his material, he creates surrealistic or expressionistic compositions in which he expresses concepts or thought fragments, often giving actual form to lines of poetry. Along with sculpture, he has also been involved in theatre, producing stage sets for the National Theatre of Northern Greece in Thessaloniki and the Greek National Opera in Athens.