Tragas Dimitris (1953)

Born in Athens in 1953, he studied graphic design at the Vakalo School under Y Valavanidis and P Tetsis. From 1985 to 1989 he taught painting at the art classes of the City of Athens and from 1992 to 2005 he was in charge of art teaching at the elementary school of I M Panagiotopoulos.
Early on in his career he experimented with various materials and techniques; starting from painting with an expressionistic slant, he soon turned to three-dimensional installations and constructions as he explored the transcendence of the image and propounded the self-destruction of art; he destroyed his materials by burning and then reassembling the charred pieces into new creations. In 1993 he presented at Medusa +1 a grey-black sculptural environment with an oval floating body (Zeppelin) surrounded by bare iron grids like those from a derelict building carcass with strong references to settings of destruction, fire or air raids.
His love for stage design and geometry is reflected in his art, particularly in the "Uranometry" and “Voyage to the Void” series from the Traveller trilogy, which is a voyage of self-perception and the relationship to one's surrounding space. He envisions and creates an imaginary, intangible spot in the universe whose location would be determined by uranometric coordinates, drawing shapes and mentally connecting stars with some points of his own invention with the aid of mathematical equations.
In addition to art he has been active as stage designer, actor, musician and photographer; he has also played chess in the Greek Championship and taught chess to children and teenagers, and has been an athlete of martial arts. He has presented his work in solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad and has participated in domestic and international group shows. His works can be found in public and private collections in Greece and abroad.