CM: Within the Dada spirit, Costas Evangelatos appropriates found objects to arrive at a composition which is entirely his own. On the way to his Athens studio, going past the Technical University, Evangelatos spotted amidst the School's waste the model of a bust. He was impressed by the pure, nearly abstract, quality of the portrait, rid of any feature, character, and traits. Placing it on a pedestal in his studio, he took a metal sieve and wore it on its head like a veil. The addition of the veil gives the sculpture an emotional dimension to its lifelessness. The veil is known in French as 'pleureuse', which suggests its use at moments of mourning. The sculpture that was born reminded Evangelatos of paintings by De Chirico. In a mood that relates to De Chirico's Metaphysical School, Evangelatos was inspired to christen this sculpture The Poet. The enigma of its ambiguous gender, and the symbol of its mournful state suggest the portrait of a poet who is ready to utter ambivalent lines, either of comedy or tragedy.
