On Thursday, January 27th, takes place at the Art Gallery "Astrolavos dexameni" (Xanthippou 11, Kolonaki, tel: 210 7294342,3 fax: 210 7293317, opening hours: Tues-Fri. 10.30-15.00 & 18.00-21.00, Sat. 10.30-15.00 closed on Sunday-Monday, www.astrolavos.gr, email: gallery@astrolavos.gr) the vernissage of the painting exhibition by Costas Bobos entitled: "Abeyances" and the sketch exhibition by Maria Letsiou entitled "Games of Infinity".
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The works of Costas Bobos depict, almost always, human figures 'living' in a rudimentary urban environment, in which the world is pictured in a state of abeyance and in a way that generally involves the viewers as well. Here, people balance constantly in innocent - they seem - encounters with modern architecture, with other people and objects. They try to spare time, watch and wish, but usually do not act (do they really want this?). The painted scenes, which they inhibit, initially appear to prolong this abeyance in time as limit of the lack of meaning. However, ultimately, they manage to establish a social critic that has its origins at works of G. Tati and A. Hitchcock. This ambiguous swing, which seems to eliminate the importance of history, enables Bobos to lead the viewer towards a compromise of his own: to set the look by means of slim, clean painting choices of the pace set in the escalating levels of the picture.
While the artist does not make much of the contemporary urban adventure, which he delivers in a clean narrative, he maybe wishes - set free from the guilt of synchronisation - to look again into questions about the very act of painting in the contemporary environment of multiple crises. His own stance - by instinct rather than by any other conceivable means - defines painting as a desire to look.
In his latest work, Bobos is more concerned about the autonomy of the work itself. Even though they generally remain moderate, the colours now seem to star in his works. They are more intense and occupy a greater surface as an axe of the composition's organisation. Furthermore, since his technique becomes directly understood, it allows the narrative to function effectively, beyond any moralistic illustration of the topic, setting a world between theatrical and everyday life.
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Maria Letsiou - "Games of infinity".
This series of Letsiou's works with ink and watercolours on paper builds upon the convergence of biomorphism in visual arts. This new definition is realised by bringing the concept of the game in the creative process. The biomorphic entities are being formed by a game of confrontation and demarcation of the colour spots that are often depicted with spontaneous gestures. This is because this process highlights the fluidity and transparency of the material, which has been chosen for these very special features. The depicted liquidity, on the one hand, seeks to emphasise a certain flow which can be the optical transfer of the concept of continuous remodelling of things in the world, natural or man-made.
Transparency, on the other hand, serves as a revelation of an internal essence of things and the world. The biomorphic formations often resemble heroes of the virtual world, while the overall project gives the impression of being formed by traces and remains. The traces and the remains may suggest a more structured former situation -or not? Are we at a stage of degradation or creation? Or do ultimately both states bear similar characteristics? |
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Exhibitions' duration: Until Saturday, February 26th, 2011.
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