Simossi Gabriella

She studied in Athens, at the School of Fine Arts (1945-1950) in Michalis Tombros’s workshop, and in Paris, at the School of Decorative Arts and the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere with Ossip Zadkine (1955-1957). In 1954, she settled in Paris. In 1972, she received the Morgan’s Paint Premio award in Ravenna and in 1992 was conferred the title of “Knight of Arts and Letters” by the French government.

She presented her work in solo exhibitions in Greece and other countries; in 1999, a retrospective presentation of her work was held at the Couvent des Cordeliers in Paris. She also participated in major group events in France and other countries, including the Salon de la Jeune Sculpture and the Salon du mai, exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and Panhellenic exhibitions.

Starting with the human figure, Gabriella Simossi created surrealistic works of an abstract approach with symbolic and poetic qualities. Her mutilated, fragmentary sculptures evoke ancient Greek sculpture; the use of cloth covering her heads or ropes around her figures creates a feeling of entrapment. Besides human figures, she also produced animal figures, mainly elephants and horses, and hybrid forms of the animal world. She worked in clay and bronze but above all in plaster, whose whiteness contributes to an effect of frigidity, silence and alienation.