An important exhibition on contemporary Greek printmaking is being prepared by the Greek Printmakers Association, in Japan. 41 prints by 26 artists, members of the Association, will present a sample of contemporary Greek printmaking of the last five years.
The exhibition will be held in two phases. The first will take place at the Washi-no-Sato sites in 19-26 June 2021. Washi-no-Sato is located in the northwest prefecture of Saitama, 70 km from Tokyo. It is an important workshop for the production of handmade paper and is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The second exhibition will take place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum.
Greek Printmakers Association and Japan Print Society enjoy a long-term cooperation that started in March 2019 with exhibitions of contemporary Japanese printmaking at the Municipal Gallery of Piraeus and contemporary Greek printmaking at Washi-no-Sato and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This year’s exchange with the Japan Print Society will include an exhibition of contemporary Japanese printmaking at the G. Gounaropoulos Museum situated at Zografou and it is scheduled for May 2021.
These exhibitions are part of an ambitious program for international exchanges in co-operation with foreign cultural institutions, including the exhibition that Greek Printmakers Association held in Iasi, Romania, last January. The aim is to enrich the public perception of contemporary printmaking and to advance the work of the Greek printmakers and its development.
The exhibition is curated by the Greek Printmakers Association.
Specifically, the exhibition presents works by: ANGELOPOULOS Christos, ΑΝΝITSAKIS Odysseas, ARVANITIS Zacharias, BENAKI Polytimi, BOGIATZIS Dimosthenis, FALKONIS Michail, GEORGA Matina, KOMPATSIARI Maria, KONSTANTAKOU Anastasia, KOTSIOU Dina, KOUMANTAKI Dimitra, MACHAIRIDI Efstratia, MAVROEIDI Vanta, MIKROU Anastasia, MONOGYIOS Ioannis, PAPADOPOULOU Sofy, PETROPOULOU-DIMITRAKI Mimi, PROVATA Elena, PROVATIDOU Marina, SCHINA Mary, SIATERLI Dimitra, STAVRAKANTONAKIS Nikos, VALERY Antigone, VASILAKOU Argyri, VELETZAS Lefteris, XYLA-XANALATOU Iris
ARTISTS STATEMENTS:
ANGELOPOULOS Christos: “In the darkness of the night / You stand bright like a lamp / Of the unfading light / Which is the seaman’s guide.“
BENAKI Polytimi: “The following poem of Kostis Zervogiannis Heretis expresses my thought: But I was lost in the country tracks / and though I reached close to my aim / I turned back to familiar bays / I who only braveness love“
BOGIATZIS Dimosthenis:”My practice over the last years is focusing on spiritual aspects of the past that how they are transformed into objects, actions or even habits within a society. I am particularly interested in the ritual and the condition that is created during the time the ritual lasts.“
FALKONIS Michail:”Labyrinthine is our world. I traverse its pathways, and, with my shoes, my body and my thought covered with its white dust, I am driven in front of a cinema screen under the title “Requiem for a dream”, and then I translate it into my language so as to understand it better. Since I find here, in this very screen imprinted, in a rather quirky way, the lived-out adventures of a person X and the end of his profound dreams, I decide to engrave prints. My own trails…“
GEORGA Matina:”Cinematographic and theatrical spaces, where the action of etching, the trace and the gesture of inking take place / “Ecriture automatique” that expresses instant images of the mind / Fields of lost and won battles“
KONSTANTAKOU Anastasia:”Gorgons were a popular image in Greek mythology, which may date to as early as 1194–1184 BC. Their legendary and powerful gaze could turn one to stone.“Today the humans (who are capable of more destruction than the worst mythological demons), in what way could their view be changed, to make the world less incomprehensible and self-destructive?My unworldly and fantastic creature, only ask …“
MAVROEIDI Vanta: “Panopticon 1” is an archetypal pattern, an impulsive inclination to repeat the same but always different, its main feature being the rosette, which connects the homonymous edifice-prison with the human figure and the notion of continual supervision”
MACHAIRIDI Efstratia :”Part of my diploma print series, this mezzotint explores the thin line between the subconscious, the world of dreams, memories and reality. Figures like ghosts appear theatrically in front of the viewer in an obscure background almost challenging one’s vision. Are they really present or figments of a peculiar imagination?“
MONOGYIOS Ioannis:” A lot of restrictions happened during the lockdown. My spirit lost its comfort, the space became narrow, joy and laughter became death threats, we became possible killers for others. A lot of black thoughts came into my mind. These were some reasons that made me open my secret door on the top of my head.“
PAPADOPOULOU Sofy _COM.ODD.OR:“In 2017 COM.ODD.OR printed 15 drypoint plates in 20 proofs, in order to record the original trauma. In 2015 COM.ODD.OR visual enhancement group already had compressed and corrupted The Three Army-Surgeons by the Brothers Grimm.“
PETROPOULOU-DIMITRAKI Mimi:”Two colour woodcuts, variations of the “Greece in Crisis” series starting in 2015. The abstract Mediterranean landscape refers to the blue sea, golden beaches, the iconic cypress, ubiquitous on Greek soil.“I) The heavy, grey cloud embodies the crisis foretelling the coming storm.II) Same landscape through the frame of a broken window.”
PROVATA Elena:”Company is the bond between friends, the interaction of different people, the moments when you have someone near you, antidote to loneliness. The word itself essentially means the presence of a person along your own, at a certain moment in a certain place.“
VALERY Antigone:” Where Do You Look? Modern man is immersed in problems and struggles coming from within. Why? She is fed up with weariness. Where does he expect deliverance from? Whom does she ask for help? Oneself. He is looking inside. Why doesn’t she lift his head up? Why does he not look beyond one’s ego?“
VELETZAS Lefteris:”Facing reality sometimes is like gazing at a black horizon. Finding a personal meaning in our daily routine is what defines us and helps us escape to our individual dreamland. What is to come is approaching.“