Dimosthenis Kokkinidis

Dimosthenis Kokkinidis (1929, Piraeus -2020, Athens) contributed in the field of painting in Greece with consistency from the early 1960s and today he is considered as one of the most important Greek painters of his generation.

For his works, he often used as a point of departure press photographs of tragic events, which he either repainted or actually integrated within the painting.

Shocked by the Colonels coup in April 1967, Kokkinidis will start painting the series that became known as …and regarding the remembrance of evils… titled after a mistranslated elegiac fragment of Theognis of Megara (6th century B.C.E.)

Of the good, one man is loud in blame, another in praise; of the bad there's no mention whatsoever (Theognis, Elegiac poems 797-798).

In …and regarding the remembrance of evils… Kokkinidis painted the colonels in all their uniformed grotesqueness, alongside their supporters from the army and church.

Tanks and helmets, protestors with raised fists, fallen bodies and enigmatic domestic scenes also appear.

In this chronicle of violence a panel is dedicated to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in June 1968, an event that dwindled optimism in global politics.

…and regarding the remembrance of evils… was made over the course of the two first years of the dictatorship, in knowledge that it would have been impossible to exhibit due to the strict censorship and in fear of the consequences.

The works were painted in square pieces of cardboard which were later hidden and forgotten. …and regarding the remembrance of evils… was exhibited in 1997 for the first time.