VENIA DIMITRAKOPOULOU
Dimitrakopoulou’s artistic practice is rooted in an intuitive material and spatial understanding of her surroundings, evident in her monolithic sculptures as well as in her more delicate installations. Her works are deeply informed by both the physical world and her inner reflections on time, history, and personal mythology.
As art critic and curator Eleni Varopoulou notes, “Venia Dimitrakopoulou weaves ancient, primal elements of human existence and artistic creation with modern, personal mythologies. Her explorations span, on one hand, historical and cultural time, and on the other, personal, internal time.”
Venia Dimitrakopoulou is a sculptor who divides her time between Athens and Aegina, where she has a studio. She has exhibited her work in both solo and group exhibitions across Greece and internationally, including in France, New York, and Italy, as part of her “Primordial Future” trilogy, which was presented in three major cities. Her large-scale sculpture Promahones was showcased at the Benaki Museum on Pireos Street for several months before being installed in the garden of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens in 2016. In 2019, the Antonino Salinas Archaeological Museum in Palermo added her work Golden Spear to its permanent collection.
Dimitrakopoulou’s public art can be found in prominent locations, such as her site-specific works: “The Secret of the Sacred River” at Ardittos House in central Athens, “Lalaria” on Skiathos, “Anadysis II” at Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” and “Gentility” in the gardens of the Noval Property building, Butterfly, in Athens. She also created a bust of Iakovos Diamantopoulos, which is displayed in front of the Archaeological Museum of Lavrio. Many of her pieces are held in private collections worldwide, including those of Maison Bernard in the South of France, the American College of Greece, and prestigious hotels such as Athens Hilton, Athens Was Hotel, Mykonos Riviera, Anemi Folegandros, and Diles & Rinies Luxury Hotel in Tinos.
In addition to her sculptural practice, Dimitrakopoulou has lectured and led workshops on various topics, including “Writing and Speech/Logos as an Image” at the Department of Architecture and Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2019), “The Sculpture of Giannoulis Halepas” (2018), and “Eros – Death – Self” (2016) at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has also contributed to lectures at the Benaki Museum (2010), the Wolfson University in Oxford (2015), and the Bodossaki Foundation (2021), as well as to the educational programmes at the Venice Biennale (2015).
In recognition of her contribution to the arts, she was awarded the Order of the Star of Italy in 2017 by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. Her work has been published in books by prestigious publishers such as Hatje Kantz (Germany), Allemandi (Italy), Futura, and Foinikas (Greece).
For many years, Dimitrakopoulou has been involved in community-oriented activities on Aegina, including organising sculpture workshops for children, contributing to the Aegina International Music Festival, and hosting theatre shows.