Vlassis Caniaris Untiled, 1990 Mixed media 130 x 40 x 37 cm Courtesy The Estate of the Artist and Kalfayan Galleries, Athens – Thessaloniki. Pioneering artist Vlassis Caniaris (Greek, 1928 – 2011) whose landmark installation “Arrivederci-Wilkommen” (1976) was presented recently at the Gwangju Biennale 2014 and whose work can be found in numerous museum collections including the Tate Modern, was one of the most significant artists of the post war period in Greece. In 1988, Caniaris, together with Nikos Kessanlis, represented Greece at the Venice Biennale and in 1997 his work was exhibited at Documenta. With echoes of the Arte Povera aesthetic of using banal materials and an iconography focused on socio political themes, he created works and installations that comment on political and social issues.
