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After the completion of the mural on the exterior wall of the amphitheatre of the Polytechnic School of Thessaloniki by Apostolos Kilessopoulos in the autumn of 1989, this work holds our undiminished interest. So, I think that the initial intention of the artist to stimulate the sensitivity of the public and start a fruitful dialogue with them, becomes true in the best possible way. The role of a huge mural is also justified, when it is found in a public place, accessible for viewing by specialists and laymen. In contrast to canvas painting, whose range is limited, as it is exhibited in enclosed areas and not the same ones all the time, and it is directed at a few selected proprietors or viewers, the painting of a monument, this most functional of artistic creations -ever since ancient times in the service of the Church or the State- is interweaved with the surface on which it stretches with no frame or restriction, aiming at giving respect for the architectural creation but also projecting its own autonomy. It stands in the same place, even if the surroundings change and marks its era and the special conditions of its creation, while at the same time dictates a non-stop dialogue with contemporary or future spectators; this dialogue gains significance because of the ability of the artist to offer personal answers to human worries beyond those of the aesthetic nature. Because, when an artist raises his voice in a public, and, moreover, in a university area, he seems to be precise about his spiritual and artistic identity, a point in time that incorporates conquests of the past and includes the seeds of future ones. The very form of the architectural structure of the building, which is part of a pyramid, was a challenge for Kilessopoulos. The pyramid was considered even by ancient philosophers a principal shape, a symbol of the earth and the sky, of life and death, both a womb and a tomb at the same time. In the great tombs of the Pharaohs, the monuments of the Egyptian pyramids, built in dimensions that represent stellar data, historical time meets eternity. With these given factors, even if they were in a latent form, the artist utilized both aesthetically and philosophically the special aspects of the architectural mass and restored a harmonic and balanced relationship between the building and the decoration. Of the irregular truncated pyramid external shell of the amphitheatre of the Polytechnic School, the artist had two sides at his disposal, the side facing Nea Egnatia and the facing the narrow road towards the university library. The first venture was to rub off this enormous wall "newspaper" -covered all over by graffiti, written in spray paint, and to move on to replace these political and other slogans with another experimental code based on the harmony of shapes and colours. Because it is certain that the artistic vision of the artist includes "slogans" which, however, are not gaudy or incidental but which require effort and active participation on the part of the viewer in order to be deciphered. On the long side rhythmical figures of a supercosmic ritualistic procession starts from each end and these meet not in the middle but somewhere on the axis of the uppermost point of the wall, where a figure with raised arms is depicted; from then on the gaze of the viewer is sent higher, to a bas-relief cosmic symbol. Beyond the visible procession the whole composition impels the viewer towards a continuous ascent to the visionary point of the peak of the imaginary pyramid that is formed by the extensions of the side lines. This upward tendency is intensified not only by the painting but by the surface of the wall, its undulations and its curved edge. The use of dense colour, in mainly blue and red shades, with the intervention of a little yellow, create a feeling of a more fluid atmospheric element, of air; this top zone is crowned by a strange, bas-relief sun. On the narrow side there are no human figures and on a field of light and dark blue a complex, scarlet, stellar symbol is totally dominant. Finally, at a distance from the common angle of the two sides and in a counter force movement from it, three iron bars have been placed, supple figures, curved by fire and painted in its colour; these support scarlet wires attached to the centres of the bas-relief stars, thus not only adding an organic connection and an aesthetic equilibrium to the whole composition but also bringing next to the other primary and dominating symbols, those of the earth, the air, water and of fire. The shapes, the colours, the masses, versatile under the different lighting of day and night create a new imaginary world which exceeding the intentions of the artist, follows an autonomous route which reveals -as Elytis says in his "Private Way" referring to artistic creation, "a view of the world closer to the real one.. A little to the right, a little higher, a little more red, a little more yellow and there it is: the little light is lit in the Paradise of those who understand". (Vima Newspaper, Nov. 11, 1990, pp. B6). Since the response of the people of our city to the painting challenge of the Polytechnic Amphitheatre -as a survey carried out by the students of the Architecture School has revealed- has been positive, let us hope that there will be more such interventions at different spots in the city, so that artistic creation can stimulate in a steady and fertile manner the sensitivity of our co-citizens. Efthymia Georgiadou-Koundoura |
