‘Art Scene Athens’ talks to artist Maria Hadjiandreou about her new exhibition entitled ‘The Gaze’, at Gallery 7, in which the artist not only captures the character of her sitters but also searches deep into their psyche: MARIA Hadjiandreou’s work of the last two years are portraits inspired by the artist’s heightened sensibility. Whilst perusing … Continue reading
‘Art Scene Athens’ catches up with Dimitrios Antonitsis – a curator and artist who has been illustriously active on the Greek art scene for 20 years now, and the mastermind behind the show ‘Integral II’, at the Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Centre: I first met curator/artist Dimitrios Antonitsis two decades ago, when I had just started … Continue reading
AN ABANDONED, muddied ragdoll lying outside the school my daughter goes to, was an ironic reminder that I would be seeing some more stuffed toys in the evening, at the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art. And no, not in the shape of Cycladic figurines, but those that artist Mike Kelley had gathered from thrift shops … Continue reading
‘Polis, Flows, Tensions’ is an exhibition that comprises the works of 30 contemporary artists, who work in different mediums and styles, but who all have dealt with the concept of contemporary urbanity/urbanism and how it has been shaped today. The life, behaviour/nature of modern-day city-dwellers and their relationships are explored. Patterns are found in everyday … Continue reading
SPYROS KOTSALAS captures the raw, bold beauty of the Greek landscape and the nonchalant, everyday details of Athenian life. His oil paintings are odes to the quintessential colour harmonies of Greece, while his small gouache portraits capture the essence of the character of his sitters – the angles and contours of their features sculpturally rendered. … Continue reading
‘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
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
ACCLAIMED artist Christos Bokoros has described himself as ‘serving an ancient iconolatric tradition’. In fact he does this with such clarity and verisimilitude in his paintings, with such perfectionism and emphasis on detail, that the results are awe-inspiring. But in contrast with the intricacy and complexity of his mastery of representational painting – creating a … Continue reading
DOCUMENTA 14 announced on March 7, at the press conference held at Kassel’s Fridericianum, that the main institution it will be collaborating with here in Athens, is Greece’s National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST). And indeed, seeing as the title of this documenta is ‘Learning from Athens’, it certainly has chosen the right institution to … Continue reading
AT THE CENTRE of Greek culture, both ancient and modern, is the Greek sea, coupled with Greek light. From Odysseus’s seafaring adventures, to the naval battles for Greek independence, to the recent tragedies in the Aegean, the Greek seas have seen plenty of action, and have played a central role in shaping this country’s character. … Continue reading
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