ATHENS.- Kalfayan Galleries presents the first solo exhibition of Dimitris Neveskiotis, titled “We were never really here”. The opening of the exhibition will take place on Thursday 24 September 2026, from 19:00 to 21.00.
The text accompanying the exhibition is written by Christos Parides.
A few thoughts about Dimitris Neveskiotis:
The trajectory may seem expected, but it is by no means a given: painter, sculptor, ceramicist. In this order, from his studies to the present day, these three identities point to the steps that Dimitris Neveskiotis has taken, ultimately arriving at the place from which he essentially began: painting. Even if it may appear that he is devoted to ceramics. For although the practice with which he feels most at home is indeed pottery, in the end everything leads back to painting. It is no coincidence that, whenever he describes his work, the expression “ceramic canvas” repeatedly comes up.
Of course, his vessels are not limited to being ceramic canvases; on the contrary, they possess their own distinct morphological particularities. They are generally medium-sized, sometimes white and sometimes black-figure, with clear references to the techniques of ancient cultures—not necessarily those of the ancient Greek tradition. At the same time, they are characterized by elements that transform them into aggressive objects, entirely unsuitable for “use” of any kind. Nails and thorns, raised protuberances and sharp points often jut out from their surfaces, nevertheless complementing the iconography that unfolds across them. Violent, strange, satirical, caustic, surreal and erotic images, but above all, deeply anthropocentric: dark figures reminiscent of the earliest prehistoric paintings found in the caves of Indonesia and France. A small human epic, condensed into brief scenes of everyday madness, enacted by anthropomorphic presences that leave us uncertain as to whether they are creatures from the caves or their contemporary counterparts.
If one also observes the animals the artist has introduced—at times as prey (goats), at others as creatures roaming freely and proudly through nature (horses and birds), and elsewhere as symbols of power and authority (lions)—one realizes that, for Neveskiotis, the umbilical cord connecting primordial communities with the modern age seems never to have been severed.
Drawing on a remarkable arsenal of ideas inspired by music, but above all by the cinematic universes of Kubrick, Pasolini, Jodorowsky and Lanthimos, he gives form to situations that transcend reality: a flying saucer beside newborn babies; a man boxing with a lobster; a procession of submissive pilgrims advancing into the unknown; sirens and birds with human heads; putti, flowers, meanders. Like a distorting mirror reflecting the human condition and its history, these compositions usually emerge when the ceramic artworks—and, occasionally, the ceramic slabs—have already come out of the kiln. Confronted with them, he works almost automatically, almost reflexively, responding to a fleeting impulse, with his imagination and creativity as his allies. And so, all his stimuli are released, and through his brush parades a circus of half-civilized, strange beings that come to define his iconography, articulating, whether subconsciously or even consciously, his personal social concerns and political perspective.
One cannot help but wonder: if all this rabble and disgrace are indeed real, has nothing truly changed over the centuries, from the origins of humankind to the present day? Or are we simply living through renewed variations of the human species?
Dimitris Neveskiotis (b. 1996, Drama) lives and works in Athens, Greece. He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts (2017-2022, 1st Sculpture Workshop. Professor: Nikos Tranos). Recent exhibitions include: “Optimism, Despite Everything”, Kalfayan Galleries, Athens, 2026; “Shaped by Earth”, Kalfayan Galleries, Athens 2025; “Muddy Mood” (Zoumboulakis Galleries, Athens, 2025; “Youths II”, Melina Merkouri Cultural Centre, Athens, 2025; “A Strange Dinner - at the Table of Nikolaou”, Zoumboulakis Galleries and Nikolaou Residence, Aegina, 2024; The Native Language, “Back to Athens 10: Geometry Of Rational”, 2023; “Blast from the Past”, Kalfayan Galleries, Athens, 2023; “Hic Rhodus”, Space52, Athens, 2023; “Allusion”, Circuits and Currents, Athens, 2023; “Catch the Sun”, A.S.F.A. Annex at Hydra – Emmanuel Tombazis Mansion, Hydra, 2022; Platform Projects Open Studios, A.S.F.A., Athens, 2021-2022. In his work, Neveskiotis combines various media, creating a dialogue between hand-drawing and digital-drawing as well as traditional techniques such as ceramics. Neveskiotis composes palimpsests of narratives with caustic humor and socio-political commentary as protagonists. His ceramic works are characterized by their deliberately 'raw' image and the deceptive 'simplicity' of his drawings, which have references from prehistoric cave painting to pop culture and online gaming.
