“COINCIDENCES” – STELLA VARDAKI, LIA BLIOUMI, MARINA BOBOU

The Greek Printmaker’s Association welcomes three new members and presents an exhibition of their work entitled ‘Coincidences’, in the ΕκΤΟΣArt space. The printmakers Stella Vardaki, Lia Blioumi and Marina Bobou, present characteristic works from their body of artwork, each one making their own particular mark.

Through her creative observation, Stella Vardaki focuses, as if through a photographic lens, on formations in the urban landscape which relate to her visual images. Examples of these are cracks in sidewalks, road surfaces, damaged walls, etc. Through her research, she discovers countless landscapes and interesting shapes around her. Following her intense desire to bring these images to life, she works with the process of engraving and printing which she sees as an adventure. She adds, subtracts and finally focuses on those elements that create dynamism. Depending on the possibilities offered by each of the following techniques, sugar and ink, tonal aquatint and hard ground linear etching, she is guided to her original concept.

Lias Blioumi’s artistic search begins with the primary matter of the cell as the smallest and most important unit of life. Organisms have a common cellular point of existential structure that symbolically correspond to the functioning of even the entire planetary system. The cell, having in its structure the function of the same point, regardless of its scale, also works in reverse, redefining the concept of macroscopic-microscopic perception as well as internal-external shape. In her work the cell is rendered as a symbolic unit that maps various codes and universal memories. It converses with past depictions of the forms of the cellular organism, used by the indigenous Sioux in their religious representations, from the Nazca culture to the series of pre-Columbian geoglyphs in the Peruvian desert, and to the reflections of an endogenous biological reality in the microscopic patterns of the Australian Aborigines. Humans and even bacteria, in relation to the symbolic unit, have a common point of existential perception. The cell as a symbol, corresponds to the functions of a model city, a state or even the entire planetary system. We are used to think of it as our inner element, the discovery of this common ground in every living or non-living system which functions in such a way as to both surround and constitute our existence.

Finally, for Marina Bobou, the images of everyday life, the multiple questions of modern societies and the fragile human condition in cultural contexts, play a major role in her personal search. Performances of fiction with self-referential features comment on timeless events, through the approach of the “man” who is called upon to face the complexity of the modern dimensions of life. The artist, having as a vehicle her direct experience and personal experience, emphasizes faces or figures which are often associated with repeated objects – “symbols”. Her visual work includes drawing, painting, engraving and sculptural constructions.

Short biography of the artists:

Stella Vardaki: Born in Heraklion, Crete, she has been active in the visual field since 1981. Specifically, she has studied Painting, Engraving and Photography in art workshops and has attended seminar courses in Athens and Seville. For several years she has been involved in ceramics and other art forms such as batik, vegetable dyeing and tapestry. She lives and works in Athens. She has participated in group exhibitions in Athens, while in her last work she curated the solo exhibition of the Spanish painter Jose Luis Castanio /José Luis Castano entitled “Palippsisto” in “Vikelaia” of Heraklion, Crete.

Lia Blioumi: Born in Elassona. She studied Painting and Engraving and graduated with honors in both areas. Since 2017, she has been teaching as a member of the E.D.I.P. in the Department of Engraving in the Visual Arts department of the Athens School of Fine Arts. Her research interests concern the convergence of art and science and in particular the relationship between Biology and Printmaking. She has held two solo exhibitions at the Adam Gallery and has participated in several group exhibitions. She has received five awards in art competitions and Biennales. She is a member of the Chamber of Visual Arts of Greece and the Greek Printmaker’s Association.

Marina Bobou was born in Athens in 1998.  She is a graduate of the Department of Visual and Applied Arts, School of Fine Arts of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She completed her studies in the Printmaking studio  with professors Xenophon Sachinis and Ourania Frangoulidou. She held a solo exhibition entitled “Body” at the Municipal Art Gallery of Nafplio in 2020. She took part in twenty-four  group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. She created the” vinyl biscuits “of the poet Andreas Tsiakos, Endymion, 2021 Athens and participated in the illustration of the comic album” A Universe below ” by Kyriakos Makris, Aposperitis, 2021 Nafplio. She has presented  an educational workshop on “Diversity and Art”, “Arts, Creativity and Children”, June, 2023. She has received a scholarship for postgraduate studies at the University of Nicosia, in the field of special education (2022-2024).

ΕΚΤόΣ | Art Space
Ι. Drossopoulou 17Α, Kypseli, Athens
haraktes.gr | info@haraktes

Wednesday & Friday: 18:00 – 21:00, Saturday: 12:00 – 15:00.
Duration of exhibition: Wednesday 29 November – Friday 29 December 2023
Exhibition Opening:  Wednesday 29 November 2023, 18:00 – 21:00

**In the context of limiting the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus, the ΕΚΤόΣ Art Space has taken all the appropriate prevention and protection measures with the aim of safeguarding public health and limiting the spread of the virus. **With the financial support and patronage of the Ministry of Culture.

**With the financial support and patronage of the Ministry of Culture