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Aegean: Identities + Journeys

About the exhibition

The social and historical reality of today is raising questions and creating acute concerns which we do not fully comprehend or do not comprehend at all. The times we are living through as individuals and as citizens force us to examine issues beyond our experience, and frequently our awareness. In this country, the need for answers, for an analysis, is palpable and increasingly urgent. The transcendent intervention of Art is of the greatest importance.

As an agent in cultural management, Citronne Gallery aims to function as a forum for the exchange of artistic ideas and views. With this in mind, this year we chose a theme, always current, recently enlarged and magnified. The Aegean, our sea, has a long history of life and movement, peace and wars, survival and voyage, work and experience. The exhibition “Aegean: Identities + Journeys” brings together artistic viewpoints on this subject, expressed by nine contemporary artists called upon to provide commentary: Yiannis Adamakos, Michalis Katzourakis, Demosthenis Kokkinidis, Alekos Kyrarinis, Tasos Mantzavinos, Emmanouil Bitsakis, Constantin Xenakis, Sotiris Sorogas, and Jannis Psychopedis.

The artistic works exhibited are accompanied by poems, or extracts of texts, chosen by the artists as an additional representation of reality. At the same time, the poems are independent of the artistic work: that is, they are not the inspiration for the art, but the artists’ stream of conscious commentary on their varied memories and responses to the Aegean. The artistic and the poetic function as a diptych which highlights the crucial significance of the Aegean to the history and the definition of the Greek identity.

Communicating Landscapes

Tassos Mantzavinos, Kostas Papanikolaou
Communicating Landscapes
June 1, 2013 - July 24, 2013
Poros

Virvili Square
18020 Poros Island
Greece

(+30) 697 9989 684

Opening Hours
Mon-Sun:
11.00-13.00 &19.00-23.00

About the exhibition

Tassos Mantzavinos and Kostas Papanikolaou depict the primal symbol of the sea. Whether familiar or remote, friend or foe, the sea has kept secrets from the time of Homer. A tool of the gods, an element of fairy tales, a part of our folk heritage, an emblem that is geographical, cultural and symbolic of the origins of every Greek, it inspires mixed and contradictory feelings: fear, nostalgia, opening, endurance, protection.

Mantzavinos works in the closed world of a primal fear: he depicts the dark side of dreams, mythical sea beasts, the threats of childhood and adolescence, people’s dark fears.

In contrast, Papanikolaou paints a soothing view of the sea, picturesque, familiar landscapes, the serene intertwining of land and sea, the safe colours: a common reference.

These two artists, friends and collaborators, complement each other and have painted works together, in an effort which combines the two views and endeavours to create a synthesis.

Sea: Four Artists – Four Approaches

Maria Filopoulou, Tassos Mantzavinos, Kostas Papanikolaou, Nana Vetta
Sea: Four Artists - Four Approaches
June 14, 2008 - July 9, 2008
Poros

Virvili Square
18020 Poros Island
Greece

(+30) 697 9989 684

Opening Hours
Mon-Sun:
11.00-13.00 & 19.00-23.00

About the exhibition

Τhe word “sea” invites diverse and unlimited associations. With the thought of this endless diversity, we have set up the group exhibition on the subject of the sea with four artists and friends who belong to the same generation, but whose very different personalities establish a visual discourse around the thematic axis of the sea.