With my most sincerest apologies to installation sculptor, Konstantin Dimopoulos, I must confess I just don’t get – “Red Centre”.  According to Dimopoulos,  Red Centre (2006) represents fire, the natural force that both destroys and regenerates; and is seen as an essential part of the Australian landscape. In a less aggressive form, the flames provide a certain warmth and a place for communities to gather – a communal meeting Place.

Egyptian born Dimopoulos is both an installation and performance artist. Born in Port Said on 20 December, 1954; he spent the first eight years of his life living in Ismailia before moving with his family to Wellington, New Zealand.  He completed a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at the Victoria University, Wellington and later studied part-time at the Chelsea School of Art, in London.

In 2003, he moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia where he now lives. His first exhibition The Passioned, was a series of large, lively and bold linear oil paintings. The exhibition was followed by a second solo show before he travelled to London and Europe. On returning to Wellington, New Zealand, Dimopoulos created works for his “Mind At The End Of Its Tether” exhibition; a series of dark, figurative oil paintings about the men working in the printing room of Wellington’s daily newspaper.

Please do not shoot me down in flames, but as a visual appreciator of art, I understand the ‘fiery’ concept of Dimopoulos’ work; but the overall display of the ‘outward flare of the sticks’ springing forth from a base, is not too dissimilar to something I saw in a vase inside a resort hotel recently – in a more miniature form.  Forgive me, for my art heathenism in this instance, but to me, they both display a similar fiery redd-ish source! Is it just my me, or can others see or understand this?

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