In Greece, a Red-Winged Sculpture Is Exorcised and Destroyed
Religious conservatives condemned the red figure as satanic and yanked it from its pedestal, while a priest attempted to exorcise it.
Greek artist Kostis Georgiou has created many red, figural sculptures over the years, from gangly animals to towers of people, balanced like gymnasts. But one of his recent works of a winged, red individual, intended to represent a guardian, has been perceived by religious conservatives as a Satan figure. It has been the target of protests since its installation last month in the southern Athens suburb of Palaio Faliro, culminating in its forced removal by protestors late Wednesday night.
As Reuters reported, a group of a dozen or so hooded protestors dressed in black tied the sculpture to the back of a truck and drove away, yanking it from its seat on a 26-foot-tall pedestal. The fall broke its feathered wings, which spread behind the faceless figure, as if it were resting from a flight. The work’s title is “Phylax” — Greek for “guardian.”
A man running the kiosk had witnessed the vandalism, according to local daily Kathimerini, and said the perpetrators had threatened to hurt him if he alerted authorities. The group has not been identified, although district mayor Dionysis Hatzidakis has reportedly filed a lawsuit. District officials intend to reinstall the sculpture if it can be repaired.
“Phylax” has been a polarizing work since its installation at the start of December. Commissioned by the Greek shipping family Martinos, it perched on a prominent site between two chapels, gazing across roadways. According to Greek Reporter, many locals had condemned the red figure as satanic, and vandals had splashed it with white paint. On New Year’s Eve, dozens of protestors, led by the local priest, demonstrated below the statue, holding Greek flags and singing hymns. The priest, who described the figure as a “demon and soldier of Satan” in an open letter to Mayor Hatzidakis, also attempted to exorcize it by sprinkling holy water around the artwork.
Georgiou, speaking with Reuters, said that “all this violence against the sculpture since the first moment it was installed has left me speechless. It should remain down on the ground as a memorial of the irrational rationale.”
The Greek Culture Ministry has also condemned the destruction, noting in a statement shared today that “Freedom of expression and creativity are fundamental prerequisites of every democracy. Public dialogue, peaceful disagreement and the dialectical relationship between opposites are fundamental pillars of the Greek civilization and have been bequeathed to all humanity.”
