Biography
The sculptor Memas Kalogiratos was born in 1940 in Petrikata, Kefalonia. In 1943, the German occupying forces burned his family house, due to his father's participation in the Resistance, which forced his family to leave Kefalonia and relocate to Patras. This incident marked sculptor's later life and work. In Patras, Memas will apprentice next to the painter and iconographer Georgios Papadimitriou (Faona) and will join the preparatory department of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1960, where he will discover his preference for sculpture. He initially studied in the laboratory of Yiannis Pappas and from 1961 in the laboratory of the then newly elected professor of the School, Thanasis Apartis. Alongside Apartis, Kalogiratos acquired the following elements: simplicity, the avoidance of rendering the details and the simplification of the form, which marked his career ever since. During his studies in addition to busts – mainly model studies – and reliefs, his works included sculptures inspired by the highly politicized post-civil environment of the 60s. Such works, titled with verses by Tasos Levidatis and Odysseus Elytis, are crafted in a modernist morpho-plastic idiom, which in some cases reaches abstraction. The left-wing sculptor was also an active member of the student movement and EFEE.
In 1965, heading towards the end of his studies, he will present his first solo exhibition at the Municipal Library of Patras. Later, he followed Vassilis Vassiliadis to Epidaurus, where he got involved in creating theatrical sets. The exposure to the ancient tragedy was obvious in some works of that period, was maintained since then, and can be noticed even in his recent work. In fact, from 1992 to 1997, he founded the Kefalonian Society of Artistic Search in his hometown, he mainly staged tragedies with an amateur troupe, by taking over the teaching of the plays, the sets and the costumes.
Around 1966, upon completion of his studies, the elongated, tall, slender figure, which denotes mental states and existential anxieties, appears in his work. This particular form composes an important place in his work, especially after 1980, when he and his wife settled permanently in Kefalonia. In 1970, after he was discharged from the army, he opened his first foundry in Rizario School, after gaining relevant experience working in the foundries of Nikos Kerlis and Dimitris Gavalas. A significant influence on his sculpture was exerted by Christos Kapralos, with whom he collaborated as a molder and assistant. The era of the foundry was particularly productive for Kalogiratos, who worked mainly in brass busts, full body sculptures, nudes, reliefs and compositions (allegorical, mythical, erotic, social). A few years after his marriage (1977) he decides to return to his place of origin and around 1980 he settles permanently in Kefalonia, where he builds his workshop and foundry. Around 1984-1985 he will paint a part of the church of Agios Konstantinos and Agia Eleni in Karavados, Kefalonia.
His work as a whole includes anthropocentric works characterized by solidity of form, evocative expression, which often evoke a sense of melancholy, silent introspection and monumentality. These are mainly expressionist works that refer to the tragic existence of man and his confrontation with destiny.
Memas Kalogiratos has been working non-stop until today, creating works mainly in brass and in some cases in wood and local tufa. He also created some paintings, which together with a representative part of sculptures from his student years to his recent production are exhibited in a private sculpture gallery, which he founded in 2016 in a short distance from his workshop in Kefalonia.
His work has been presented in many individual and group exhibitions with the most recent retrospective exhibitions “Tragic Muse” at the old courts of Santaroza Street in Athens (12 May to 12 June 2022) and “The Return” at the Hellenic Diaspora Foundation in Patras (15 to 30 June 2022).
Xenia Giannouli
Art Historian