On Thursday 29th of April in the art space of Astrolavos dexameni (Xanthippou 11, Kolonaki, tel: 210 7294342,3, fax: 210 7293317, opening hours: Tu-Fr 10.30 - 15.00 & 18.00-21.00 and Sat 10.30 - 15.00, www.astrolavos.gr, gallery@astrolavos.gr) opens the painting exhibition of Fotis Pechlivanidis entitled : ''Skin'' and sculptures exhibition by Elena Christou entitled: ''Wonder Tales''.

Fotis Pechlivanidis presents a new unit of works in his well known characteristic personal style that since the 90's brings closer the comics culture with plastic arts. The artist enjoys the misconception between high and low Art and what is called Street Culture; somewhere in between he creates his artworks. With emphasis to the cinematic close-up, vivid clear colors of pop art culture, the perfect, non variation surfaces on the brightest tones similar to the bright glam world we live in, he creates but also smears the conventions of our time. Simple, clean lines with vivid black outlines demonstrate a certainty of expression but also the misconceived ''certainty'' of our society.
With basic axis the approach of the two sexes the artist commentates on situations such as temptation, desire, love and flirt. The challenge for the artist rotates between the raw disposition to enlist modern relationships in western societies and the ''game'' between the two sexes.
Central figure in all his images is the modern woman-personification of a new iconographic motif in replacement to the female beauty of Goddess Aphrodite. Whether she emerges from the sea or gets out of bed she will always be named Aphrodite or Luna and the impact will be the same.
Simple and direct images keep reminding us the necessity of love in our lives.

At the same period of time, at the middle gallery level, is presented the individual painting and sculpture exhibition by Elena Christou, entitled: ''Wonder Tales''.A drawn scenery of a highly internal world unified by fantastic figures and organic shapes, inspired by the world of dream and fairytale. As a starting point the artist uses experiences and memories from the childhood age and through the study of fairytales and myths manages to create her personal idiom. In it, a commixture of fantastic and real of conscious and unconscious.
For S. Freud myths, fairytales, literature and Art can be analyzed as dreams. Fairytales and myths speak through the language of symbols. They express depressed feelings or unfulfilled desires either consciously or unconsciously.
On the occasion of the interpretations and the dark side of fairytales the artist tries to narrate all of the above in a most distinctive style by choosing and studying mainly stories that have as a protagonist the woman- young girl; stories like ''Little Red Riding Hood'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', referring to woman's childhood age, her sexuality and her relationship with the opposite sex.
In other occasions the artist seems to be influenced by the ideas of surrealism: ''the real function of mind'', ''real photography of thought'' , traces of ink and pencil enlisted automatically upon the paper surface trying to imprint the subconscious thus8 creating a dictionary of symbols which in their whole narrate a personal story.
Through this procedure the artist re-lives the childhood game of hidden realities within toys-symbols and fantastic tales. Abstract forms and animal-shaped figures operate allegorically, replacing reality.
At times, the result varies from aesthetically appealing to annoying stimulating contradicting reactions like the ones we experience when we dream nightmares or told in myths and fairytales.  

Duration of exhibition until:  29th of May 2010.