Stella Sevastopoulos reviews the exhibition at the alternative art space Phoenix Athens, entitled ‘Out of the Cube Into the Green’: IF YOU walk or drive up Asklipiou Street in central Athens, way up on the hill, you will eventually get to Phoenix Athens, an alternative art space which is providing artists both with a space … Continue reading
Category Archives: installation
‘Disoriented dance / Misled planet’ at the Odeon of Herod Atticus
The Herod Atticus Odeon has seen some interesting art interventions around its premises, but never actually inside the ancient theatre. But this summer will change that, with the work of Dionisis Kavallieratos. NEON and the Athens & Epidaurus Festival are pleased to announce a newly commissioned site-specific installation by Greek artist Dionisis Kavallieratos at the … Continue reading
Panagiotis Voulgaris: Oneness with nature vs the heterodoxy of Athens
Stella Sevastopoulos talks to Panagiotis Voulgaris, an artist-traveller, whose special relationship with nature and the urban environment have inspired his ephemeral artistic interventions. He is also the co-director of FokiaNou art space together with artist Mary Cox. PANAGIOTIS Voulgaris creates monuments to nature that revere the natural environment to such an extent, that they … Continue reading
The verdant, the vitrines and the vanishing act: Villar Rojas’ Athens intervention
WHEN WORLD-RENOWNED Argentinian artist Adrian Villar Rojas agreed in December of 2015, to take on NEON’s proposition – to conjure up one of his astoundingly original site-specific installations at the National Observatory of Athens and the Hill of Nymphs – I’m sure that no one could have imagined the outcome. But that’s the thing with … Continue reading
Ex-pats: A life between cultures at the Alex Mylona Museum
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
Art Olympics (part 1): Athens revs up for documenta 14
AS THE GREEK and international art world revs up for documenta 14 (April 8-July 16 in Athens, June 10-September 17 in Kassel), Athens puts on its best: So much will be happening around town that it’s a bit like the Olympics again, only this time for art – the ‘Art Olympics’. Cultural institutions and galleries … Continue reading
Kounellis: The poetry in poor materials
THE PIONEERING Greek artist Jannis Kounellis, internationally renowned for his avant-garde artistic ingenuity, and considered the father of Arte Povera, passed away in Rome, at the age of 80, on February 16. Rome had become his home since 1956, when he moved there and enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti, after not having passed … Continue reading
Five for February
Greek seascapes in focus The Greek sea has inspired many a Greek painter, and the Theocharakis Foundation’s new show, which will be inaugurated on February 15, pays homage to the many Greek artists who have created outstanding seascapes over the years. The exhibition comprises works from two most important collections – the National Gallery of … Continue reading
Varotsos: ‘Art is life and the transformation of life into art’
LIKE HIS beloved material of glass, which he has tirelessly transformed into monumental sculptural forms, Costas Varotsos is sharp, cool and transparent – in the sense that he is unafraid to speak his mind. There are not many contemporary Greek sculptors who are also international names, however Varotsos is one of them. With his public … Continue reading
The ‘Abyss’ in Athens
NEON organisation’s contemporary art show ‘Flying Over the Abyss’, is another example of how Athens is both exceedingly ancient and totally avant-garde. Comprising 41 works, by 34 international and Greek artists, but also including the original manuscript of Nikos Kazantzakis’ ‘Ascesis: Saviours of the Gods’, the show presents the diversity of the contemporary art scene … Continue reading