Stathis Dimitriadis attributes his inspiration and curiosity for art-making to the daily stimuli of the urban environment. Everyday images of building constructions, road grids, flows of people and objects are feeding into his fragile assemblages. He compares this approach with a dive into a treasure box - continuously observing, selecting, creating and connecting - in an attempt to reveal new meanings as well as preparing the ground for future epiphanies.
He fabricates ceramic elements using repetitive processes of throwing, hand-building or breaking. Similar to a construction worker, Dimitriadis embraces whatever materials he has at hand, including discarded and found objects. Although his methods are disciplined, accidents of the unusual and unexpected occur, creating a temporary lapse of rationale and control. These momentary escapes to freedom form unique entities which are bigger than a sum of parts; they offer full meanings only when seen in totality – like life itself. Furthermore, these spatial arrangements have similarities with the way we organise our thoughts, memories and how we communicate. On the one hand they are frantic, colourful and textured; on the other hand they are simple, organised and banal and remain as 'imperfect' and 'unfinished' as the artist himself.
Stathis Dimitriadis was born in 1971, Volos, Greece and graduated in 1995 with a Chemical Engineering Degree, National Technical University, Athens. In 2004, he completed an apprenticeship in the pottery workshop of Michalis Sklavenas, Athens. After moving to London, he attained his Master of Fine Arts at Sir John Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture, in 2008, where he also secured a residency in 2011. He is a member of the London Potters Association and won best Sculptural Piece Award at the London Potters Annual Exhibition in 2009 as well as the LOM ART Purchase Prize at the Bad Behaviour Open, in 2014. More recently he exhibited at Transition, Bargehouse Gallery, Southbank, London; The London Group Centenary Open, 2013, Cello Factory, London; 8th International Biennale of Ceramics Kapfenberg, Kapfenberg, Austria;, and Poetry in Visual, Gallery of the City Museum of Aveiro, Portugal. In 2015, he was a finalist at FIRST@108 Public Art Award, Royal Society of British Sculptors, London and exhibited at The London Group Open 2015, Cello Factory, London.
©Stathis Dimitriadis and Renée Pfister, 2015
For further information about Stathis Dimitriadis work contact
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