‘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
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
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
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
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 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
