Greek Politician Destroys Art in National Gallery, Claiming ‘Blasphemy’
Greece’s National Gallery was forced to close on Monday after a right-wing politician vandalized artworks he deemed to be blasphemous in an exhibition of contemporary Greek art. With the aid of an accomplice, the elected official allegedly targeted four paintings, which he forcibly removed from the wall and threw to the ground, shattering their protective glass of at least two works.
The damaged artworks, all by the same artist, Christoforos Katsadiotis, included three pieces from his “Icon” series and Saint Christopher (2020). The works are caricatures of religious icons.
Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a member of parliament in Greece, representing the far-right and ultra-conservative party Niki, which translates to “Victory,” has threatened to “take all legal actions” against the museum, which he alleges detained him illegally since the Greek constitution “provides that a Member of Parliament may not be prosecuted, imprisoned, or otherwise restricted without the permission of Parliament.”
Katsadiotis (the artist) explained that he is intrigued by the ambiguity and implicitly menacing nature of religion, represented by saints “who threaten that, if we’re not on their side, we will face all manner of trials and tribulations.” He added that religion “is the most kitsch element of our folk history—full of miracles, tragedies and curses, it is our modern mythology.”
After the attack, Papadopoulos defended his actions in a lengthy post on X titled “Government of Atheists and Antichrists.” The Greek politician revealed that he had written a letter to the museum’s director, Syrago Tsiara, asking that Katasadiotis’s works be removed.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/greek-...ry-2617854
Greece’s National Gallery was forced to close on Monday after a right-wing politician vandalized artworks he deemed to be blasphemous in an exhibition of contemporary Greek art. With the aid of an accomplice, the elected official allegedly targeted four paintings, which he forcibly removed from the wall and threw to the ground, shattering their protective glass of at least two works.
The damaged artworks, all by the same artist, Christoforos Katsadiotis, included three pieces from his “Icon” series and Saint Christopher (2020). The works are caricatures of religious icons.
Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a member of parliament in Greece, representing the far-right and ultra-conservative party Niki, which translates to “Victory,” has threatened to “take all legal actions” against the museum, which he alleges detained him illegally since the Greek constitution “provides that a Member of Parliament may not be prosecuted, imprisoned, or otherwise restricted without the permission of Parliament.”
Katsadiotis (the artist) explained that he is intrigued by the ambiguity and implicitly menacing nature of religion, represented by saints “who threaten that, if we’re not on their side, we will face all manner of trials and tribulations.” He added that religion “is the most kitsch element of our folk history—full of miracles, tragedies and curses, it is our modern mythology.”
After the attack, Papadopoulos defended his actions in a lengthy post on X titled “Government of Atheists and Antichrists.” The Greek politician revealed that he had written a letter to the museum’s director, Syrago Tsiara, asking that Katasadiotis’s works be removed.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/greek-...ry-2617854
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
