Christophoros Katsadiotis’ ‘Saint Christopher’ from 2020 was one of the pieces singled out by the enraged MP.
An artist “has the right to express his or her personal point of view, to react and, in so doing, ask the questions they want to ask, such as, for example, about war waged on the pretext of purity and justice under any given god,” Christophoros Katsadiotis, one of the artists whose work came under attack by a religious-fundamentalist lawmaker at the National Gallery in Athens on Monday, has told Kathimerini English Edition.
Known for his brooding, grotesque and occasionally darkly humorous engravings that challenge the customary wisdom behind powerful symbols of the Greek Orthodox faith, Katsadiotis is one of 10 artists whose work is being shown at the National Gallery as part of “The Allure of the Bizarre,” a sidebar to the show “Los Caprichos,” featuring 80 engravings by Goya.
The National Gallery has confirmed that the MP, “with the assistance of another person, attacked four works of art by Katsadiotis, titled ‘Icon 1’, ‘Icon 16’, ‘Icon 17’ and ‘Saint Christopher.’
The attackers “forcibly removed them from the wall and threw them to the floor, smashing them.”
The MP who took issue with the show, Nikos Papadopoulos of the religious-extremist Niki party, slammed the pieces as “blasphemous” in a ranting Facebook post on Sunday before launching a physical attack at the museum the following day, breaking glass display cases and vandalizing art.
“It is worth considering how society (politics) uses religion as a tool to control and corral the masses with threats, fear and obscurantism; how religion often preemptively categorizes believers as either loyal followers or outlaws. Those who do not conform and obey are traditionally warned that they will be judged and condemned to eternal damnation – a clear form of intimidation,” said Katsadiotis, reacting to the attack.
The MP reportedly grabbed a piece off the wall and stomped on it, shouting that it “insulted religion.”
“In this particular case, the means of expression is poetic and not intended to depict something insulting,” said Katsadiotis.
“No one, naturally, is obliged to agree with me, ideologically or esthetically. But this is my point of view,” the Paris-based Greek artist said.