Aristides Burton Demetrios was born and raised in Massachusetts. His father, George Demetrios, was a classical sculptor, trained by Bourdelle, a student of Rodin. His mother, Virginia Lee Burton was the renowned author and illustrator of children's books, including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and The Little House, for which she won the prestigious Caldecott prize. After graduating from Harvard College, Mr. Demetrios spent three years as an officer in the Navy and then studied at the George Demetrios School for three years. In 1963, he won his first national sculpture competition when his proposed design was selected for a major fountain commission on the campus of Stanford University (The White Memorial Fountain: "Mem Claw" ). Shortly thereafter, he was chosen to be the sculptor for a public art commission in Sacramento in front of the County Courthouse; subsequently, he was selected by David and Lucille Packard to design and fabricate the sculpture to grace the entry to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Forms Sung In A Kelp Forest).
After successfully completing a series of monumental public sculptures (The 92' Wind Harp in South San Francisco; The Bataan War Memorial on the Island of Corregidor, Flame of Freedom; the 80' sculpture Cosmos, the fountain Peirine in New York, Breakthrough, etc., Mr. Demetrios turned his attention to smaller works for private collectors. In the last few decades, he has designed, fabricated and installed a large number of commissioned works for the gardens of private collectors, including a great many bronze fountains. In addition, he has had several gallery and museum shows featuring his figurative bronze sculptures, like "Trixter", his abstract bronze sculptures, like "The Cube", and his painted or patinaed steel sculptures, like "Tomorrow's Dreams", the vast majority of which are now owned by private collectors across the United States.
In 2002, Mr. Demetrios won the "Santa Barbara Beautiful Award" for the most beautiful work of public art; the award recognized Mr. Demetrios for the design and fabrication of the 18' bronze fountain, Mentors, which serves as the focal point of the Santa Barbara City College, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Fountain was donated to the campus by Eli Luria and Michael Towbes, two revered Santa Barbara philanthropists, both of whom have Demetrios' sculptures in their own private collections.
Mr. Demetrios, who goes by the name Aris, shows his work in several galleries, and in his studio in Montecito, California, where he resides with his wife Ilene.
II. SGTV Video
"Gardin de las Granadas - Aristides Demitrios"
Produced by Jeremy Tessmer
Narrated by Frank Goss
For the opening of the Gardin de las Granadas, Sullivan Goss worked with the city of Santa Barbara to install four works by the artist.
To watch this video click on the image to the left.
III. An Analysis of the Artist's Work
IV. Education
Harvard College, BA History and Literature 1953
George Demetrios School of Sculpture 1956-1959
V. Exhibitions
One Man Shows
1962 Golden Gate Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1965 Stanford University Union, Stanford, California
1967 MH De Young Museum, San Francisco, California
1980 San Francisco Gallery, San Francisco, California
1981 Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Connecticut
1985 Victor Fischer Gallery, Oakland, California
1987 Gallery 30, San Mateo, California
1988 Triton Museum, Santa Clara, California
1989 Lanetti Lanzone Gallery, San Francisco
1990 Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel California
1992 Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco
1994 Triton Museum, Santa Clara, California
1996 Creighton Davis Gallery, Washington DC
1997 Baraka Gallery, Washington, DC
1998 Addison Ripley Gallery, Washington DC
Group Shows
1968 Northern California AIA
1976 Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Downtown Center
1980 Gloucester, Mass Lyceum
1981 San Francisco AIA
1982 International Sculpture Conference Invitational
1983 Brook House Gallery
1984 Hastings Law School Gallery
1985 Civic Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, California
1986 San Francisco Sculpture Festival
1988
Bay Area Bronzes
1989 Gallery Des Arts Quotadien, Paris, France
1990 Beyond the Frame AIZA, Palo Alto, California
1991 Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco
1992 Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California
1993 Bay Area Bronzes, San Francisco, Design Center
1994 Santa Clara Civic Center, Santa Clara, California
1995 Michael Dunev Gallery, San Francisco
1996 Herbert Palmer Gallery, Los Angeles California
1997Creighton Davis Gallery, Washington DC
1997 Addison/Ripley Gallery, Washington DC
1997 Cape Ann Sculptors 100 Years, Rockport Art Association, Rockport, Massachusetts
1998 George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco
VI. Competitions & Awards
1964 White Memorial Competition
1964 Alameda County Competition
1965 CVAIA Award of Excellence for PROTEUS
1967 Pacific War Memorial Competition
1968 San Francisco Hall of Justice Competition
1972 L.A.C.C. Award for PRIMAVERA
1975 A.I.A Honor Award for VINEYARD
1982 A.S.L.A. Award of Merit for Discovery Sculpture Park
1986 Merit Award for Fawcett Residence Program
1990 Award for Natoma Station Art Program, Folsom
VII. Collections (selected list)
Royal Pacific Motel, San Francisco Sun and Wave 1962
Sonoma Mortgage Company, Santa Rosa, CA Spray 1963
Stanford University, Stanford, CA White Memorial Fountain 1964
ALCO Park, Oakland, CA Renaissance 1964
Sacramento County Courthouse, CA Proteus 1965
Fashion Island, Newport Beach, CA Sky Divers 1967
Corregidor Island, The Philippines, Flame of Freedom 1968
The Prudential, Los Angeles, CA Primavera 1971
First National Bank of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ Arizona 1972
Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester, MA Sea Harvest 1977
Our Lady of Fatima Church, Modesto, CA St. Joseph, St. Mary 1979
EBSCO Headquarters, Birmingham, AL Fountain 1981-82
Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA Forms Sung in a Kelp Forest 1984
Marine World Africa USA, Vallejo, CA A Fanfare of Dolphins 1986
Entrance Plaza, The Corinthian, New York City, NY Peirene 1988
Pacific Concourse, Los Angeles, CA Celebration 1989
Kawea Hospital, Visalia, CA Bronze Fountain 1992
VIII. Bibliography
Davenport. “Art Treasures of the West.” Sunset Magazine: 1966.
Mendelwitz. “A History of American Art.” Rinchart: 1970.
H.U.D. “Artists in America.” 1973.
Hockaday. “At the Garden of San Francisco". Timber Press: 1988.
Loewer. “American Gardens.” Simon & Schuster: 1988.
Murray. “Home Landscaping.” 1988.
Katz. “The Fountains of San Francisco.” Lexicos: 1989.
TELEMEDIA "Breakthrough: A Portrait of Aristides Demetrios; Prize-winning documentary by Eames Demetrios, first shown in April 1987 on KQED-TV, San Francisco. Distributed by Home Video Artists Series: 1987.
