‘The Spirit of Ecstasy’, was one of the first works you encountered at the Benaki Museum’s ‘Art Nouveau’ exhibition. This small, silver figurine resembles a more modern, streamlined version of the ancient statue ‘Nike of Samothrace’ (in the Louvre). Created by Charles Robert Sykes in 1911, it adorns the bonnets of all Rolls-Royces. It is also … Continue reading
IN THE HEART OF ATHENS, that is becoming all the more multicultural with the progress of time, the exhibition ‘ex-pats’ at the Alex Mylona Museum, curated by Apostolis Artinos, and featuring works by Eleni Mylonas and Despina Meimaroglou, explores the whole notion of what it means to leave your homeland, to travel, to return, and … Continue reading
Ok, I admit it… I’m all ‘documented out’. Total documenta overload in fact. So, I’ll keep this short (to the delight of most people I’m sure), and focus merely on a few of the 18 artists at the Benaki Pireos venue of documenta 14, where the first person you will come across is Eva Braun … Continue reading
Happy May 1st to everyone – the day we celebrate with flowers. Here are some I painted years ago at Kew Gardens, where an ancient Greek temple-inspired pavilion lies hidden in the trees. Here in Greece, the weather is very summery at the moment and people have even started swimming, so the flowers won’t be … Continue reading
AFTER confronting the pile of junk in the courtyard of documenta 14’s Athens Conservatoire venue (part of Daniel Knorr’s book-making process there), I found a whole lot more at documenta 14’s Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) venue. But truth be told, there’s a lot of ‘junk’ in contemporary art in general. And I mean … Continue reading
GOING to an art show, or even trying to practice art, isn’t really top on the list of ‘things to do’ for many people. And that’s a shame, because art has a lot to offer, for people of all ages and classes. In fact recent studies argue that the homo sapiens were more advanced than … Continue reading
WHERE TO START? I had to visit the National Museum of Contemporary Art (or EMST), twice in order peruse the works of around 80 artists that have taken over this museum – the main venue of documenta 14 in Athens. This is a show dense both in terms of the many meanings/philosophies and messages it … Continue reading
IT WAS RIGHT under the Acropolis, on the stone pathway of Dionisiou Aeropagitou, where a group of long riders set off on April 9, for their 100-day journey to Kassel on horseback. The event, part of an art project by Ross Birrell, realised for documenta 14, gathered tourists, journalists and the art crowd under the … Continue reading
“The whole world is indebted to Greece” stated the famed Argentinian artist Marta Minujin after her performance at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (or EMST), in Athens. Entitled ‘Payment of the Greek Debt to Germany with Olives and Art’, the performance took place at EMST on April 8, (the inauguration day of documenta 14), … Continue reading
THE FIRST STOP on my documenta 14 art adventure, was the Athens Conservatoire. Here are some of the highlights: The main action was taking place underground – in the basement. Turkish-born German artist Nevin Aladag’s ‘Music Room (Athens)’, created in 2017, predominated a section of the main hall there. The components of this installation (seemingly … Continue reading
