Meeting Point 04: Costas Tsoclis Museum

Costas Tsoclis, Agios Georgios (Saint George), 1990, Sculptural installation, Aluminum, painting, video, 1700 cm, Costas Tsoclis Museum Collection

The artwork “Agios Georgios” (Saint George) by Costas Tsoclis was created in 1990 and is a monumental sculptural installation in the outdoor space of the Costas Tsoclis Museum, on the island of Tinos. The artwork is very large in scale, approximately the size of a bus, and extends across both the wall and the ground. Its central theme is clash and struggle, between Saint George and the snake, at the moment he pierces it with his spear.

At the most decisive point of the composition stands Saint George’s metal spear. It begins high up on the wall surface and descends diagonally towards the ground, extending beyond the limits of the stone wall. The spear functions as the primary axis of the artwork, guiding movement from the upper to the lower part of the composition. Behind the spear, the mounted figure of Saint George is rendered in relief, with his hand shown only as a painted form. The facial features are not recognisable. What stand out are the bent arm, painted in a brick-red hue as it rises dynamically while holding the spear, the leg pressed against the body of the horse, and the intense circular halo surrounding the Saint’s head in shades of gray. The horse is depicted in a leaping posture, its body extending diagonally from right to left, conveying the tension of the battle, while suggesting the dominance of Sculpture over Painting, by virtue of its material and scale.

On the ground lies the body of an oversized snake, which spreads imposingly and covers a large part of the museum courtyard. Its body is composed of hundreds of aluminum scales and forms a wave-like motion, as if writhing. At the snake’s head, in place of its eyes, two screens project rapidly alternating images of violence, intensifying the sense of threat and confrontation.

The artwork combines sculpture, painting and moving image, and continuously changes in relation to light, time and the weathering of materials. The aluminum surface alters in appearance over the years, while the composition exists in full harmony with the landscape of Tinos, following the ridgeline of Mount Exomvourgo, visible in the background. Although it draws on the iconography of Saint George and the myth of Python, the artwork does not function as a religious image. The battle is presented as a timeless confrontation, a symbol of struggle and resistance. Though static, the artwork radiates power, momentum, and vitality, inviting the public to approach it, touch it, and return to it again and again.

The creative description of the artwork “Agios Georgios” by Costas Tsoclis is the result of co-creation by the participants in Meeting Point 04: Costas Tsoclis Museum.

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