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
Category Archives: athens
The documenta diaries (part 6): Athens School of Fine Arts
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
The documenta diaries (part 5): EMST
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
The documenta diaries (part 4): A horse’s tale
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 documenta diaries part 3: According to Minujin, ‘the debt is already paid’
“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 documenta diaries: part 2 (Athens Conservatoire)
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
Can you survive April 8’s ultimate Athens art challenge?
FORGET ‘SURVIVOR’… How about surviving through April 8 in Athens, in an urban art jungle? Because here’s the ultimate challenge: to see all of the documenta 14 art events taking place that day (on its inauguration), plus the other ‘special’ events that have been planned independently in order to celebrate or even comment on documenta … Continue reading
Documenta 14’s ‘Keimena’ continues
THE ‘KEIMENA’ tv program of documenta 14 that has been airing on Mondays on ERT2 at midnight, since December 19, aims to reach out to a wider public. In fact documenta 14 has not only used television to reach out, but as the recently released main programme of events for documenta 14 shows, it will … Continue reading
And so it begins: documenta 14’s first 8 days of events in Athens
AND FINALLY, documenta 14 has announced its programme of events in Athens for the first eight days. The famed, historic, cutting-edge quinquennial exhibition will continue here till July 16, so plenty more events will follow, keeping us on our toes for spring and summer. On April 8, documenta 14’s official inauguration takes place in various … Continue reading
Art Olympics continued (part 2)
WHILE DOCUMENTA 14 is revving up for its grand opening on April 8 in Athens. the rest of the Greek art world is also putting on its best, in order to welcome this famed quinquennial art event which is taking place both in Kassel and Athens this year. The documenta 14 venues have been announced, … Continue reading