Metal art sculpture train (2006) Sculpture by Giannis Dendrinos

Yiannis Dendrinos was born in 1978 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and lived there until the age of 12. He studied in Athens to be an automation technician (2003), and then art restoration (2006). Self-taught in metal sculpture, he lives and works in Athens -where he has his workshop since 2000- both as an artist and an automation technician.
The raw material he uses for his artworks is industrial metallic spare parts. The subjects that inspire him are either human-centered, such as motherhood, or connected to the nature of the material he uses, originating from the contemporary industrial society. His work focuses on the position and relation of Man with the modern society he lives in, as well as the contradiction between human nature and the automated society. He lives in Athens, Greece and is a father of two girls.

The sculptures I create are made of metal and car parts. The technique and tools I use do not differ from those of a blacksmith. Welding and grinding are my main tools. The first tools and materials I've been in contact since I was a kid are the ones I played with in my father's workshop. I was born in R.D. of Congo and lived there until the age of 12. I live and work in Athens, Greece ever since.

My art has influences from two different worlds, the African society on one hand and western industrial society on the other. The first images I assimilated as a child come from the primitive African society. So these influences have been transmitted to my works. My figurative artworks, my humanoid compositions where I represent women with children, motherhood, family and human forms are influences from my childish look of primitive figurative art from Africa.

The other group of my art is part of today’s industrial society and modernity. Robots, spaceships, vehicles with futuristic features have influences from my interpretation of today's society and the coming future. An altered future I imagine where a childish look of technology also takes part. My will to compose a world of science fiction with robots and steampunk vehicles express the sudden industrialization of the last century, the emergence of a world reminiscent of the first attempts to craft a picture of the future but also the fear of the unknown. It is my childhood’s innocent glance at a visual journey to futuristic landscapes.

My goal through creation is to express the contradiction between the fragile human nature and the modern industrialized society in which it develops.

• Nationality: GREECE
• Date of birth : 1978
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary Greek Artists