Biography

During the peak of abstract expressionism in Europe at the end of the 1950s, several Greek avant-garde artists, born four years apart, such as Daniel (1924-2008), Valerios Caloutsis, and Vlasis Kaniaris (1928-2011), emerged for the first time in the European art scene. V. Caloutsis was born in Chania on June 8, 1927, into an artistic middle-class family, with his mother being the painter Florentine Caloutsis, née Skouloudi, a collaborator of the renowned folklorist and founder of the term “folk art,” Angeliki Hatzimichali (1895-1965). His uncle was the distinguished composer and writer Manolis Skouloudis, while his younger brother George was a music professor in England. In 1939, he moved with his family to Athens, where he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASKT) from 1946, attending two years of preparatory drawing courses and one year in the painting workshop of Giannis Moralis (1916-2009). In 1949, he had to interrupt his studies to serve in the navy. A photograph from that period shows him dressed as a sailor alongside Giannis Tsarouchis (1910-1989) and Giannis Chainis (born 1930).[1] He benefited immensely from his acquaintance with Tsarouchis and his particularly open spirit, to the point of later stating in an interview: “Everything I learned, I learned from Tsarouchis.”[2] In 1952, he received a scholarship to study at St Martin’s School in London. However, he wasn’t particularly interested in his studies there and soon moved to Paris, where he studied the technique of fresco for two years (1953-1955) at the School of Fine Arts. In 1955, he created stage sets for George Theodosiadis at the Perranporth theater in London. From 1953 to 1990, he lived in Paris, residing at 4 Antoine-Dubois Street, until his permanent return to his beloved Chania, to which he always returned regularly. In France, he often explored the area around the village of Tourtour in Provence, a region that attracted artists who depicted the landscape. He passed away on February 11, 2014, in the same month as another diaspora artist, John Christoforou (1921-2014).

Although he resided in Paris, V. Caloutsis gained more recognition in London, where he first presented his work in a group exhibition in 1955 at the Piccadilly Gallery. His first solo exhibition, however, was organized in 1957 in Paris (Galerie 93, where he would exhibit again in 1958) and received extensive positive reviews from critics. In his first solo exhibition, Caloutsis showcased works of abstract style, notably a year before the first presentation of abstract art in a solo exhibition in Athens (at the Zygos art gallery by Vlasis Kaniaris in 1958), a detail that confirms his established position in the history of modern Greek art, and more specifically in the Greek visual avant-garde. In 1960, he organized a solo exhibition in London (New Vision Centre), where he also participated that same year in the group exhibition “12 Greek Artists” at the Redfern Gallery on Cork Street, curated by Alexandros Xydis.[3] With this particularly successful group exhibition, Caloutsis captured the interest of the directors of the Redfern Gallery, with which he signed a contract and presented his work in solo exhibitions in the following years (1961, 1962, 1963, 1968, Kinoptics).[4] In 1965, Caloutsis presented his work for the first time in a solo exhibition in Athens (Athens Art Gallery, Hilton). From 1973, he began collaborating with the “Desmos” Art Gallery, with his solo exhibition “Communication 73,” and three years later with the exhibition “Naturmatic.” The latter was presented again after his death in 2019 in Athens (House of Cyprus, curated by Ch. Marinos). Subsequently, the artist would present his works in solo exhibitions mainly in Athens,[5] in Paris (1981, Galerie Rue Jacob), as well as on his home island: in Heraklion (1986, Photodrawings, “Stavrakakis” art gallery), and in his birthplace, Chania (2005, a major retrospective at the Chania Municipal Gallery, curated by Manos Stefanidis). Posthumously, his works were exhibited in 2014 in Athens (“Dimitris Alitheinos Proposes, ‘Art Arsenal'”), in 2017 in Paris (Kinetic Communication, RCM Galerie), and in 2019, in addition to the “Naturmatic” exhibition mentioned earlier in Athens, in a retrospective exhibition by the same curator in Rethymno (“Transformations of a Landscape,” Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete).

V. Caloutsis, as a prominent member of the Greek diaspora artists in France, also participated in numerous group exhibitions. In addition to his first group exhibition mentioned in 1955 and the exhibition of 12 Greeks at the Redfern Gallery in London in 1960, he showcased his work in many exhibitions in Paris,[6] London,[7] Germany,[8] Scandinavia,[9] North America,[10] Liverpool (1972), and of course, Athens,[11] as well as in Thiva (1975), Rhodes (1985), Chania (1994, 1995, 1999, 2003), Rethymno (1998, 2000, 2003), Thessaloniki (2002), and Syros (2010). After his death, his works were exhibited in Thessaloniki (2014, 2019, “Greek Postwar Abstraction”), Athens,[12] and Paris (2018, “Drawing Now Art Fair,” Le Carreau du Temple). His works are held in museums and collections in various places around the world.[13]

Valerios Caloutsis, with his uniquely characteristic work, undoubtedly belongs to the ranks of the pioneering artists of Europe in his time, managing to deeply explore the possibilities of modern art without straying from the pursuit of a work as complete as possible. George Murelos pointed out in 1962 regarding the young artists of the Greek diaspora in France that, although they are primarily in rupture with tradition, this is not due to a need for an abusive modernism, but rather because they are alert to use the exceptional possibilities that their era offers them.[14] That same year, Caloutsis appeared on the cover of the magazine The Studio with the article “Caloutsis. Ego into art” by Mervyn Levy, which discusses the combination of the wavering currents of abstract expressionism with a classical philosophical foundation in his work.[15] Moreover, like the work of Konstantinos Xenakis, Jason Molfesis, and Taki, his work prioritizes the search for meaning over image;[16] it is ignited by the idea that the artist wants to express, with the artistic result understood more as a process. Caloutsis dedicates himself more to thematically similar series. As he states: “Problems are created that cannot be solved in one painting but in five or six paintings that continue the same theme.”[17]

Initially, Caloutsis was interested in material (plaster, pieces of glass, etc.), which, as Tonis Spiteris emphasizes, “becomes his main focus technically and aesthetically.”[18] During this early period of his creation, he was still influenced by the constructivist teachings of Antoine Pevsner (1886-1962) and Naum Gabo (1890-1977), who, as Beatrice Spiliadi aptly notes, presented “a kinetic and dynamic perception of the concept of time” and “a rejection of all representational forms.” These principles were applied in the photokinetic phase of his work.[19] He also acknowledges the influence of the modern Spanish school of painting, prominently represented by Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012). During that time (around 1961), he absorbed the influences of these painters as well as that of the Greek diaspora artist Dimitris Perdikidis (1922-1989), who lived in Madrid. From around 1960 to 1970, Caloutsis’s work transcended exclusive engagement with materiality, approaching a metaphysics of matter. In that decade, he received significant recognition, with articles written about him:[20] in The Times of London, highlighting his personal stamp and the metallic sheen of his work; in Apollo magazine, where his intense concern for material and his unique technique using a mixture he calls “oil-plaster” is mentioned; and in Art’s Review, by Edward Lucie-Smith, who categorizes him within a side of this phenomenon that could be called “international style.” Other writers, including Eric Newton, Conroy Maddox, Pierre Rouve, Jasia Reichardt, and Michel Ragon, also commented on his work. Charles S. Spencer wrote an extensive article about Caloutsis in Zygos,[21] identifying his aversion to academic teaching but, more importantly, noting the influence of Greek light on his art, which, as he observes, “drains the landscape of color.” P. Karavias, in turn, profoundly describes the impression Caloutsis’s art made in 1965 with his relief constructions, stating that they “spread before us the drama of a world—our world—shattered and broken, broken into pieces, yet with a living organism and solid forms, such that from their despair arises a point of hope.”[22] Efi Andreadi, also writing about the same exhibition, identifies Caloutsis’s romantic tendency toward a total art, with the “union of the arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting.”[23]

In the 1970s, Caloutsis became more interested in artificial nature, presenting a complete series of photokinetic works as early as 1968 and publishing his study on a kinetic system, as he calls it, in the journal Leonardo in 1970. He was increasingly preoccupied with “the idea of a nature where its various natural elements are replaced by artificial ones,” as he himself notes.[24] It is characteristic, as Maria Maragkou observes, that he presented plastic tulips in 1976, being among the first internationally to create works with a plastic natural environment.[25] In the 1980s, he focused on interpretations of the image, along with its mutations and anatomies, and from 1990 onward, he explored interpretations of space, presenting two series of works named “Erosions.” Throughout his work, his references to the landscape of his homeland gradually emerge. As he states: “The countryside had a great influence on my works; it was the first thing I encountered (…) [unintentionally] I had imbued my works with the dryness, the rocky, the wildness of the Cretan countryside.”[26] Manos Stefanidis categorizes him among the leading pioneers of the ’60s generation, emphasizing that he “inherits the sense of landscape from where Nikolaos Lytras and his teachers Tsarouchis and Moralis left it.”[27] His struggle to integrate material into his work in a way that highlights his profound interest in the primordial experiential images that inspire him throughout his work is also reflected in the vast array of materials he uses: plaster, sand, stone, metallic paint, glue, photography (as a background he intervenes in with color and design), sound, photo cells, wires, cassette players, stuffed birds, plastic flowers, linens, pebbles, eclectic industrial materials, and technological means (mirrors, transformers, etc.). In 1986, Alexandros Xydis aptly noted that the artist generates “a third mysterious landscape,” reminiscent of “that of Arizona or the Sahara.”[28] His work, through its dynamic evolution, and perhaps also its retreats in the face of the encroachment of mechanical culture, continues to represent, as Diana Antonakatou already emphasized in 1965, a projection of a trial of the artist himself onto his audience, stemming from “his participation in the anxiety of the contemporary and his contribution to the warning of this danger posed by mechanical culture, in a critical and dynamic way.”[29]

[1] The photograph is depicted in the catalog of the major retrospective exhibition of his work: Valerios Caloutsis. 1954-2004. Transformations, edited by Manos Stefanidis, 7/11/2005-7/1/2006, Municipal Gallery of Chania, p. 50.

[2] See the artist’s interview with Rozita Sokou, “At the Borders of Painting and Sculpture. Valerios Caloutsis. (Symphyrites – Constructions),” Kathimerini, 21/11/1965.

[3] A. Xidis, apart from being a prominent art critic, was a friend and diplomat of the Greek ambassador in London at the time, the first Greek Nobel laureate, poet George Seferis (1900-1971), who also visited the exhibition (see George Seferis, Meres Z’. 1 October 1956 – 27 December 1960, edited by Theano N. Michailidou, Ikaron Publishing, Athens 1990, p. 168).

[4] In this well-known Art Gallery in London, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023, and where great names from the international art scene (Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Sybil Andrews, Cyril Edward Power, Claude Flight, Paul Delvaux, Sidney Nolan, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Patrick Heron, etc.) will showcase their works, the first exhibition of kinetic and optical art in Britain was organized in 1964 (Structures Vivantes, featuring works by Bury, Soto, and Takis).

[5] 1986, Art Gallery “New Forms”; 1991, Erosions, “Bond”; 1996, Erosions II, “New Forms”; 2004, Mutations, retrospective, Technohoros “The Apple”.

[6] 1958 and 1959, Salon de la Jeune Peinture; 1958, Greek Artists of Paris; 1962, Greek Painters and Sculptors of Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne, where among others, Caniaris, Christoforou, Gaitis, Prassinos, Tsoclis, Andreou, Coulentianou, Liberaki, Philolaos, Sklavos will participate; 1971, Réalités Nouvelles; 1972, Jeux de Lumière et Animation; 1973, Pulsations and Grands et Jeunes d’Aujourd’hui, Grand Palais; 1974-1980, Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain Paris.

[7] 1960-1970, Summer Exhibition, Redfern Gallery; 1964, September International, Grosvenor Gallery; 1970, Here Tomorrow; 1971, Electric Theatre; 1972, Prototype Display.

[8] Avant-Garde Greece, featuring Daniil, Logothetis, Nikos, Pavlos, Takis, Tsoclis, Xenakis, edited by Christos Ioakeimidis, Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin. The exhibition will travel to Stuttgart and Frankfurt.

[9] 1969, Light and Movement, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen; 1975, Electronic Art, Copenhagen.

[10] 1963, Batt Lytton Foundation, Los Angeles; 1969, Exposition art of matière, Montreal; 1982, Rosendeld Gallery, Philadelphia.

[11] 1974, How Artists See Themselves, Artistic Spiritual Center “Hour”, where the following participate: Andreou, Asteriadis, Vasileiou, Gounaropoulos, Eggonopoulos, Katraki, Moralis, Bacharian, Bouzianis, Bouteas, Papaloukas, Sikeliotis; 1974 Tribute to Cyprus, in 5 galleries with the participation of 200 artists, to support the island after the Turkish invasion; Proposal for Play, “Bond”, with participants: Gaitis, Zouni, Xagoraris, etc. In “Bond” also in 1976, 1980, and 1990; 1993, Art Athina; 1999, DEST, with participants: Gaitis, Thodoros, Kessanlis, Lazogas, Romanou, Tsolkis, etc.; 2001, Greek Visual Artists of Paris; 2002, The Shock of the ‘70s; 2003; 2004; 2005, Inside Outside. Notes on the 1960s; 2005, The Years of Contestation. The Art of the ‘70s in Greece, Megaron Concert Hall.

[12] 2015; 2016 After the Explosion, You Still Hear the Light; 2017, Case Reports, Zoumboulakis Gallery, and The Age of Space: Electric and Electronic Art in Greece, Romantso; 2019, Abstract Form. Art and Design in Greece of the 1950s and 1960s, Antonopoulou Gallery; 2019, Details of an Adventure. Bond in the Years of the ‘70s and ‘80s; 2023 Art Athina, and Parallel Vision, Theoharakis Foundation.

[13] National Gallery of Melbourne; City of York Gallery; City Art Gallery Toledo, Ohio; EPMAS; Vorres Museum; IBM Europe Collection; Leicester County Collection; Common Rooms, Worcester College, Oxford.

[14] “If these young artists mostly break with tradition, it is almost never out of a need for an abusive modernism, but because they are eager to consume the extraordinary possibilities that their time offers them” (Source: ISET / National Gallery).

[15] Mervyn Levy, “Caloutsis. The Ego into Art,” The Studio, no. 164, July 1962, p. 13.

[16] See Dorothea P. Konteletzidou, The Idea as Material, Material as Idea. Greek Artists in Paris from 1960 to 1980. Concept-Materials, Athens 2014.

[17] In Rozita Sokou, op. cit.

[18] Toni Spiteri, Three Centuries of Modern Greek Art. 1660-1967, vol. B, Athens 1979, p. 336.

[19] Beatrice Spiliadi, “Valerios Caloutsis, Figurative but Not at All Academic,” Kathimerini, 12/10/1976 (Source: ISET / National Gallery).

[20] See the magazine Ikones, 9/6/1961; To Vima, 19/11/1965.

[21] Charles S. Spencer, “The Metallic Painting of Valerios Caloutsis,” Zygos, no. 81, August 1962, 26-30.

[22] Newspaper Eleftheria, 5/12/1965.

[23] Newspaper To Vima, 3/12/1965.

[24] See Valerios Caloutsis. 1954-2004. Transformations, op. cit., p. 15.

[25] See newspaper Eleftherotypia, 16/5/1999.

[26] In Rozita Sokou, op. cit.

[27] See Valerios Caloutsis. 1954-2004. Transformations, op. cit., pp. 13-14.

[28] The text is republished in the retrospective Transformations of a Landscape (Source: ISET / National Gallery).

[29] Newspaper Kathimerini, 7/12/1965.

Anestis Melidonis
Art Historian
Scientific Collaborator of the Hellenic Diaspora Foundation