The exhibition Elpís. Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa (Elpìs: Prometheus or the broken dream of Europe) hosted in the spaces of the Castromediano Museum in Lecce, offers an extraordinary and profound reflection on the link between the mythological past and current challenges. The Greek artist Costas Varotsos (Athens, 1955), known for his ability to combine materials and concepts in a continuous dialogue with space, manages to transform, in this exhibition context, the figure of Prometheus into a powerful and contemporary symbol, capable of speaking to our era with a visual language rich in meaning.
Costas Varotsos, “Elpìs: Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa”, installation view at Museo Castromediano di Lecce. Ph. Raffaele Puce, courtesy Polo biblio-museale di Lecce
In this regard, Giorgio Ieranò’s words are evocative. In the book Olympos. Vizi, amori e avventure degli antichi dèi (Olympos. Vices, loves and adventures of the ancient gods), reminds us how the statues of the Olympus gods, kept in museums, continue to live a secret life, animated by a spark of lost times [i]. And if it is true that the cultural history of Man, in its broadest sense, can be marked precisely through the “fabulous stories” cited by Ieranò in his publication, for each of them, we should trace that very spark thanks to which in this voluminous ancient legacy, myth and reality can function today as a tool for cultural and social mediation. Rather, we recognize the distant memories of human and superhuman lives gone by that float uninterruptedly between the centuries and the sea of memory, promptly evoking them with other names and attributes. Among them, however, the image of hope always stands out, Elpís, in Greek. This is how the first part of the exhibition title is explained. In fact, Varotsos, through Elpís. Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa, brings to light that spark of lost times, inviting us to explore the thin border between myth and reality, without abandoning the common denominator represented precisely by indomitable hope.
Costas Varotsos, “Elpìs: Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa”, installation view at Museo Castromediano di Lecce. Ph. Raffaele Puce, courtesy Polo biblio-museale di Lecce
Again, the title of the exhibition itself suggests a dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary, between Prometheus, the titan who stole fire from the gods to give it to men, and modern Europe, poised between hope and a broken dream. It is precisely this tension between the sacred and the profane, between history and the present, that Varotsos explores with his works, transforming the myth into a visual narrative that speaks directly to our time. Giusi Giaracuni, curator of the exhibition together with Luigi De Luca, underlines how Elpís represents «the spark that the artist cultivates in the future of humanity», interpreting this hope as «the only glimmer in the darkness that grips the existence of contemporary man». This concept is embodied in an emblematic way in the pioneering work, Elpís (2024), one of the two site-specific installations conceived for the museum: a red spear that stands out towards the sky evokes the tension towards the top, which like fire rises towards an ideal that is elusive but which remains the engine of human existential research. At the same time, the spear also becomes a sign of challenge, of courage, of the will to overcome adversity and to reach out towards a better future, exactly like Prometheus who accepts his martyrdom anchored to a rock.
Costas Varotsos, “Elpìs: Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa”, installation view at Museo Castromediano di Lecce. Ph. Raffaele Puce, courtesy Polo biblio-museale di Lecce
Luigi De Luca, director of the Museo Castromediano and co-curator of the exhibition, adds that with Elpís «Varotsos questions us about the origin and future of culture, proposing a reflection that goes beyond history as a simple succession of events, and invites us to consider culture as a set of contexts, a product of a community culture». De Luca also underlines that Varotsos’ idea contrasts with the vision of history as a series of events, trying instead to interpret it as the fruit of collective experiences and stories that form the fabric of a society. What has just been described could be placed alongside, albeit in a non-didactic manner, the work Europa (2018), also present in the title and created in two parts. The first, the performative act, in which the artist broke the twenty-seven flags of the member states of the European Union; the second, the installation process that sees the fragments of the same flags reunited in a decomposed and recomposed message that leaves room for a note of hope: the destruction of nationalisms could lead to a new and stronger recomposition. The result is therefore a reflection on the cultural identity of the European continent, on its historical roots and on the challenges it must face.
Costas Varotsos, “Elpìs: Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa”, installation view at Museo Castromediano di Lecce. Ph. Raffaele Puce, courtesy Polo biblio-museale di Lecce
Among the works on display, the second site-specific installation stands out majestically, as another powerful image of Prometheus (2024), made of glass, capturing in an extraordinary way the duality of the human condition between power and fragility, between suffering and once again, hope. Glass, Varotsos’ favorite material for its ability to reflect and fragment light, symbolizes the complexity and vulnerability of existence, while the figure of Prometheus becomes a warning and a symbol of resilience. The work not only evokes the myth, but makes it relevant to our time, inviting us to reflect on the sacrifices necessary for progress and on the strength of hope that, even in the darkest moments, can guide us towards a better future. Varotsos’ works are not limited to a simple homage to the myth, but expand its meaning, connecting it to the urgent issues of our time. With Labirinto (1997), for example, his multiple roads and dead ends represent the complexity of life and the difficulty of finding one’s way in a constantly changing world, leading the visitor on an intricate and inescapable existentialist path.
Costas Varotsos, “Elpìs: Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa”, installation view at Museo Castromediano di Lecce. Ph. Raffaele Puce, courtesy Polo biblio-museale di Lecce
This leads to Globo (1995), where the artist gives his own personal interconnected representation of the world and humanity, the latter aimed at rising or descending to the same destiny. Again, the work Venere Nera (1982) seems to offer, instead, a study of form through the relationship between Man and Nature, space and time. The structure of the work would seem prophetic, in fact, despite dating back to the 1980s, it reveals the anticipation of a contemporary tragedy, such as that of Xylella and in this sense, therefore, the same artistic object challenges traditional canons and proposes a new vision that celebrates the diversity and plurality of experiences. We continue with Dialogo (2018), a work in which Varotsos explores the possibility of communication between people, cultures and different eras, suggesting that art can act as an element of growth and a bridge for the tensions that cross our society that can only be understood and addressed through comparison. The exhibition culminates with Soffi (2018), a series of installations that evoke the breath of the earth and humanity, symbolizing the continuity of life and its ability to regenerate despite death. Soffi represents a vital breath that crosses space and time, a symbol of the capacity for memory and renewal that characterizes the human being in the never-ending dialogue with life and death.
Costas Varotsos, “Elpìs: Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa”, installation view at Museo Castromediano di Lecce. Ph. Raffaele Puce, courtesy Polo biblio-museale di Lecce
Varotsos reminds us, therefore, that the fire of Prometheus, in this exhibition context, is not simply a source of heat and light, but represents knowledge and the ability to transform the world. Prometheus, punished by the gods for his audacity, becomes a symbol of the price that humanity must pay for progress, but also of the indomitable strength of hope, which pushes us to overcome obstacles and not give up in the face of difficulties. Humanity, in fact, has always found the strength to get up again, fueled by that spark of hope that Prometheus lit. And works such as Globo, Europa, Labirinto, Venere Nera, Dialogo and Soffi testify to the search for an energy that manifests itself in the synthesis between space and time, and his commitment to keeping the fire of knowledge alive. Therefore, Elpís. Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa is not just an exhibition, but an immersive and intellectually stimulating experience, which challenges visitors to reflect on the great questions of the human condition and the role that art can have in keeping hope alive. The exhibition, open until January 12, 2025, also represents an unmissable opportunity to immerse oneself in a profound dialogue between past and present, between myth and reality, and to discover how the art of Costas Varotsos manages to create a bridge between the ancient and the contemporary, between memory and innovation, offering a powerful and necessary vision of our time.
Antonella Buttazzo
[i] «Now the gods of Olympus are locked up in the prisons of museums. Their statues seem animated by a secret life. A spark of lost times is still lit in those prisons of marble or bronze. Their motionless gestures indicate something, like mysterious signs that allude to events now forgotten. Their silent lips know words that we ignore. Around them a world of age-old legends still pulsates, a vortex of fabulous stories swirls».
Info:
Costas Varotsos. Elpís. Prometeo o del sogno infranto di Europa
30/06/2024 – 12/01/2025
curated by Giusi Giaracuni e Luigi De Luca
Museo Sigismondo Castromediano
Viale Gallipoli, 31 Lecce
https://www.facebook.com/MuCastromediano
After obtaining the high school languages diploma, she continued her studies graduating in Art History at the University of Salento, with a bilingual thesis on the Pre-Raphaelites. Since then, she has been actively contributing as a columnist and collaborator with national blogs and with local magazines and TV programs.
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