I Have Harnessed The Shadows That Stride From World To World to Sow Death And Madness, 2007
MDF wall, wood, cazein paint, gloss paint, glass, aluminium foil, spikes, 400×280 cm

Installation View:

From the exhibition 'Young Greek Artists - In Present Tense' at the National Museum Of Contemporary Art, Athens

Curated By Daphne Vitali, Tina Pandi, Stamatis Schizakis

In Howard Lovecraft's short story “From Beyond”, the mad scientist and main character of the story boasts before dying, 'I have harnessed the shadows that stride from world to world to sow death and madness...' He had just demonstrated to his best friend a fantastical electrical device that could reveal to the naked eye the indefinable evil that flounders in the air.

Dimitris Foutris's painting installation is a depiction of this machine and at the same time the opportunity for the visual realization of the archetypal concept of evil. Collecting elements that symbolize aspects of evil from various seemingly contradictory traditions, such as the Heavy Metal subculture, Byzantine painting, Art Nouveau and science fiction illustrations, the artist seeks to portray a fragmented history of horror and violence as it becomes manifest through these symbols. The juxtaposition of religious systems and more recent cultural/worship systems, such as Heavy Metal music, cult fantasy and horror literature, betray their profounder similarities while indicating that the elements of a system retain their significance even in a contrary context.

Stamatis Schizakis