Tuesday, December 31, 2013

13 Goodbyes









13 goodbyes for 2013



















Monday, December 30, 2013

A new generation of Greek artists









A fresh 








A new generation of Greek artists


Curated By: Daphne Dragona, Tina Pandi, Daphne Vitali











Shortly before the completion of its permanent home, EMST is shifting its focus to the young generation of Greek artists. Afreshexhibition highlights the closure of EMST’s first significant period that counts already 13 years and the beginning of a new promising chapter in its permanent location.









Main aim of the museum’s exhibition policy since the beginning has been to bring out the most vibrant, progressive and innovative domestic artistic forces, while enabling the opportunity for artists to create new works of art. Afresh exhibition explores our future in an international environment, presents the new questions posed, showcases these emerging artists as they gain momentum.








A systematic and thorough research that lasted about two years has proceeded. Starting point was EMST’s open invitation to the artistic community in an attempt to map the new generation that resulted in the collection of over 1000 portfolios of Greek Artists.









KERNEL - Reciting


Participating artists: Christos Vagiatas, Hrysa Valsamaki, Ino Varvariti, Maria Varela, Afroditi Psarra, Marinos Koutsomichalis, Paky Vlassopoulou, Panagiotis Vorrias, Theodoros Giannakis, Natalie Yiaxi, Manolis Daskalakis-Lemos, Athanasios Zagorisios, Efthimis Theou and Thanasis Deligiannis, Valentina Karga, Chrysanthi Koumianaki, Marinos Koutsomichalis, Alexandros Laios, Kernel (Petros Moris, Pegy Zali, Theodoros Giannakis), Bill Balaskas, Rania Bellou, Petros Moris, Kosmas Nikolaou, Sofia Dona, Myrto Xanthopoulou, Ioanna Ximeri, Maria Papanikolaou, Tula Plumi, Erica Scourti, Εvangelia Spiliopoulou, Anastasis Stratakis, Stefania Strouza, Maria Tsagkari, Maro Fasouli, Myrto Ferentinou, Marianna Christofides, City Index Lab + Energize  [ link  ]







Sunday, December 29, 2013

Lungs







Well, won't you lend your lungs to me?
Mine are collapsin'
Plant my feet and bitterly breathe
Up the time that's passin'







Breath I'll take and breath I'll give
And pray the day is not poisoned
Stand among the ones that live
In lonely indecision







Well, fingers walk the darkness down
Mind is on the midnight
Gather up the gold you've found
You fool it's only moonlight








If you try to take it home
Your hands will turn to butter
You better leave this dream alone
Try to find another







Salvation sat and crossed herself
Called the devil partner
Wisdom burned upon a shelf
Who'll kill the raging cancer






Seal the river at its mouth
Take the water prisoner
Fill the sky with screams and cries
Bathe in fiery answers








And I for one, and you for two
Ain't got the time for outside
Keep your injured looks to you
We'll tell the world that we tried

Townes Van Zandt

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Parenthesis








One broken wing, 
Soaring and suffering, 
Arm in a sling, 
I don’t owe you anything. 








I’m a bad absentee, 
You know when I want to leave. 
So close up your knees, 
And I’ll close your parentheses. 






I’m a bad amputee, 
With no phantom memory. 
So close up your knees, 
And I’ll close your parentheses.

Tricky

Friday, December 27, 2013

Painting Matters








Painting Matters

Elika Gallery presents the group showPainting Matters. Seven contemporary Greek painters examine the significance of painting, addressing some of its key issues. The ambiguity of the shows’ title forms the starting point for its materialization: while it draws attention to a commonplace that painting still matters, it simultaneously raises questions that are particularly pertinent at the present time, such as why it still does, what are its particularities, and from where it draws its power of expression. The artists in the show aim to explore the possibilities of the act of painting, consciously oscillating between the gentle conviction and persistent questioning born out of the coexistence of the two words that make up the exhibition title.







Among the issues posed by painting today, many of which have been persistently arising as part of the discussion revolving around the medium in the last few decades, are the ones questioning its very limits, its relationship to the present, to memory and history, its interaction with other media such as photography, sculpture, literature and film, as well as the need to reinstate romantic irony as a critical stance towards the proliferation of images.







The artists participating in the exhibition find themselves in a constant search of defining their own relationship with the history of painting as well as pinning down the position their work holds in that history. What does it mean for someone to still paint nowadays, when «everything has already been said by the great masters»?. What is the driving force behind the choice to paint and how is this analyzed and assimilated by the artist? Through this process the blank canvas becomes a battlefield. While it is possible that this battle could ultimately lead to freedom of expression it may as well not. In any case, painting seems to be for these artists a one way street.







Moreover, the exhibition addresses the need to define contemporary painting, both on an international level, as well as in our country which, maintains a characteristic tradition in the teaching of painting as a starting point, as well as the basis of a visual arts language.





Participating artists: Eugenia Apostolou, Vasilis Vasilakakis, Vangelis Gokas, Vasilis Zografos, Yannis Malegiannakis, Ilias Papailiakis, Maria Polizoidou




[ link ]





Thursday, December 26, 2013

Nothin'









 Hey mama, when you leave
Don't leave a thing behind
I don't want nothin'
I can't use nothin'









Take care into the hall
And if you see my friends
Tell them I'm fine
Not using nothin'










Almost burned out my eyes
Threw my ears down to the floor
I didn't see nothin'
I didn't hear nothin'









I stood there like a block of stone
Knowin' all I had to know
And nothin' more
Man, that's nothin'









As brothers our troubles are
Locked in each others arms
And you better pray
They never find you






Your back ain't strong enough
For burdens doublefold
They'd crush you down
Down into nothin'





Being born is going blind
And buying down a thousand times
To echoes strung
On pure temptation








Sorrow and solitude
These are the precious things
And the only words
That are worth rememberin'

Townes Van Zandt

Wednesday, December 25, 2013