Days after penning a letter demanding the deinstallation of a “blasphemous” exhibition at the National Gallery–Alexandros Soutsos Museum in Athens, Greece, far-right Parliament Member Nikolaos Papadopoulos vandalized several of the artworks at the museum late Monday morning, March 10.
Papadopoulos was temporarily detained and questioned after attacked four works from Greek artist Christophoros Katsadiotis’s in the group exhibition The Allure of the Bizarre, a show taking inspiration from Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos (1797–98) etchings to present oddities, hybridizations, and the grotesque thematic to Greek art.
“We unequivocally condemn all acts of vandalism and violence, and any attempts at censorship that threaten the freedom of artistic expression enshrined in the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic,” the National Gallery’s board of directors said in a public statement.
The museum outlined that Papadopoulous, aided by another individual, accessed the mezzanine-level exhibition at around 11:35am on Monday and took down Katsadiotis’s mixed-media etchings featuring depictions of Saint Christopher, Saint George, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ. The politican maintains that two of the works slipped from his hands after he removed them from the walls, resulting in their shattered protective glass.
Papadopoulous did not immediately respond to Hyperallergic‘s inquiry.
“The National Gallery, as a public institution, does not have the right to allow exhibits that promote blasphemy, disrespect and the de-Christianization of our society,” Papadopoulos, a member of the far-right Niki Party, wrote in his March 6 letter to the institution’s director. He threatened legal repercussions if the show wasn’t removed, claiming that it was produced at the expense of “the Greek Orthodox taxpayer.”
After he was released from questioning at the National Gallery, Papadopoulos took to X to allege that he was illegally detained onsite, citing Article 62 of the Greek Constitution which specifies that “the Members of Parliament shall not be prosecuted, arrested, imprisoned or otherwise confined without prior leave granted by Parliament.”
After the attacks on his works, Katsadiotis underscored in a statement to Hyperallergic that any artist “has the right to express his or her personal point of view, to react and, in so doing, ask the questions they want to ask, such as, for example, about war waged on the pretext of purity and justice under any given god.”
“It is worth considering how society (politics) uses religion as a tool to control and corral the masses with threats, fear and obscurantism,” the artist continued. “How religion often preemptively categorizes believers as either loyal followers or outlaws. Those who do not conform and obey are traditionally warned that they will be judged and condemned to eternal damnation — a clear form of intimidation.”
Katsadiotis is now faced with a brigade of inflammatory Instagram commenters reiterating Papadopoulos’s claims of sacrilege and blasphemy.
Local reports indicate that Papadopoulos’s infraction was classified as a misdemeanor for minor property damage rather than a felony, necessitating his release from custody.
The incident at the National Gallery comes shortly after an exhibition of artist Fabián Cháirez’s paintings depicting queer and suggestive images of nuns and priests was ordered to be suspended in Mexico City last week, after multiple protests and a legal complaint from the national chapter of the Association of Christian Lawyers alleging religious discrimination.
Last April, Italian artist Andrea Saltini was physically attacked by an assailant who slashed his painting depicting Jesus Christ apparently receiving oral sex from Saint Longinus that was featured in a church in Carpi. A wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary actively birthing Jesus Christ was beheaded at an exhibition exploring women’s role in faith in an Austrian cathedral in July that year, and Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander’s outdoor sculpture “Witness” was also beheaded following multiple protests from Christian groups calling the artwork a “satanic abortion idol.”
