Chimneys-lenses

Zongolopoulos started off as a representational artist before coming finally to abstract works. At first his preferred subject was the human figure. This was followed by works based on a vertical arrangement of geometrical volumes, following constructivist principles. In the early '70s he turned to kinetic art, exploiting the potential of light and movement. His stainless-steel constructions incorporated such substances and objects as magnifying glasses, perspex, metal umbrellas, nails, springs, and water, while the form of the work was determined to a great extent by random movement, as also by the viewer's impression at different times.

Zongolopoulos's Chimneys-lenses (1991) is a composition made from a lens and metal components. The subject and its image co-exist in this construction, the latter presented to the viewer through the lens; in other words, reality goes hand in hand with the illusion of reality, an illusion created very simply and felicitously.