REVERIES OF WILL
art from the land of Cyprus

Curated by Polys Peslikas

Private view Tuesday 13 September 2011 from 20.00
13 September - 5 November 2011
Tuesday - Friday 13.00-19.00 Saturday 12.00-16.00

Participating artists:
Evelyn Anastasiou, Savvas Christodoulides, Elina Ioannou, Sotiris Kallis, Stelios Kallinikou, Phanos Kyriacou, Angelos Makrides, Panagiotis Mina, Vicky Pericleous, Alexandros Pissourios, Socratis Socratous, Lefteris Tapas, Philippos Vasiliades.

Vamiali's gallery is pleased to present “REVERIES OF WILL”, art from the land of Cyprus, a group exhibition curated by artist Polys Peslikas.

“Reveries of will… because the reverie is nearly always associated in our minds, with a state of relaxation, we fail to appreciate those dreams that include focused action, which I will call dreams of will. And so when the real stands before us in all its terrestrial materiality, we are immediately persuaded to [forgot the existence of these] unconscious impulses, the oneiric forces which flow unceasingly through our conscious life” (Gaston Bachelard, Earth and reveries of will, 1948). The exhibition's curator, Polys Peslikas with a brief reference to Gaston Bachelard writes about the idea behind the exhibition: “Perhaps one of the most dangerous elements for an artwork is if it is created within narrow geographical contexts. Any reality tends to swell, as it happens with desire. Avoiding any romanticism and every harsh reality of events, historical, political and the "loading" caused by the acts in the geographical area of an island, we make a proposal to define the image of an identity that responds to contemporary artistic production and creation of Cyprus. These artists do not belong to the same generation, but their work could be compared and coexist, be read on many levels and readings by creating multiple folds. The artists of the exhibition are characterized by their relationship they have with everyday life, current events, time, or the history as a pliable material, or just by the strict devotion and methodical approach to their artistic production (sometimes as an obsession). The visual result is clean, sophisticated, low-lit, primary, and yet fresh. Artists who, with great attention, keep the boundaries of their concepts and the nature of the material, raising questions about time, in-between spaces, contemporary ritual. The honesty and optimism of tomorrow are aspirations without a valid prediction. The reverie toward any horizon (with a higher risk that of the sea) can easily move or not, concepts and situations”.

Evelyn Anastasiou
E. A. deals with the iconography of "youth". Not with the political implications of the word, but the youth of music festivals, concert halls, musical movements (punk), diversity. That which may seem to wander almost aimlessly but claims. Through the complexity of her work (prints, photographs, collages, found material, magazines) recreates the image of a new post-teenage conceptual aesthetic. Not only with the look of an observer but with the one that characterizes the real fun who with devotion honors his idol.
Savvas Christodoulides
Utilitarian and decorative objects, furniture and fragmentary pieces of various materials involved in the process of creating works of S. C. He retries and redefines them, while leaving in the background their original position in a new conceptual and aesthetic approach.
Elina Ioannou
Outlines from images of everyday objects, architectural details and sculptures compose small-scale installations. Pasted on fake concrete panels, remain free standing, or balance between them, flirting with the idea of the illusion itself and the interior architecture.
Sotiris Kallis
S. K.’s drawings, images of an almost sickly adoration for the male sex with an obvious gay aesthetic, worked with fragile materials (colored pencils, pastels) have references to conscious and unconscious worlds of ourselves. Images that at first glance is nothing more than fashion images. Heroes, protagonists who conquered the top of the ephemeral in order to awake a more personal world, a search of an internal identity.
Stelios Kallinikou
Photographs by S. K. (in collaboration with Christos Kyriakides - both active in the fashion) look like more as the result of a performance, a mini sculpture installation, or even the remains of a ritual. The relationship that is created with the contemporary sculptural visual language raises questions about the relationship of three-dimensional object with the space and the photography.
Phanos Kyriacou
In wall composition of black and white images gathered from various archives F. K. deletes with Blanco any element that distracts us from the photographed landscape. In this way, P.K. as a contemporary landscape painter, violates the foreground, focusing our gaze to the revised image with a more romantic mood.
Angelos Makrides
The sculptural installations of A. M. comprising of different elements and materials, could be described as a whole as drawings in space. They function as a reference to the concept of time, of immobility and silence of death. With an intense tragic element but at the same time with humor, his works could be read as descendants of surrealism. Forged metal, stones, natural raw materials forming a linear image of a world-culture of reason and of dream.
Panagiotis Mina
P. M. records as an observer of his generation (that of the 90's) within the areas that this generation behaves and acts. Its purpose is to record the traces; this generation leaves in its passage than the revelation of its action. Scenery, parties’ remains, remnants of food or clothing compose the pieces of the environment that captures with his camera. Fragmentary and enigmatic, look like they warn.
Vicky Pericleous
In V.P. circular landscapes, extracts from photographic material of her archive from the occupied and free areas and the Green Line, deconstructs every familiar feature of the landscape and the surrounded environment by using the technique of collage and re-painting. There is neither narrative nor historical sense. There is a shift in time and space in relation to reality. Leads to reconstruct a new memory and a new space, somehow familiar but imaginary.
Alexandros Pissourios
In his (super8) video, A. P. a young woman is in the courtyard of a building complex built in the late 60's. With almost dance moves predisposes us for an action that is never climax. The image quality, the architectural design, the color and an almost liquid feel of the film make a direct reference to a decade charged politically and historically. The choreographed movement of the model and the impeccably rigorous framing deny the architectural environment by presenting it as the ideal backdrop for an action in progress.
Socratis Socratous
S. S. revolves around the way in which man experiences everyday social and political activities within the urban landscape and environment. Depending on the material he uses (recycled metal, plastic, wax, and new technological methods of processing materials) explores concepts such as the political and the cultural decay.
Lefteris Tapas
In the works of L. T. we encounter two realities, nature and architecture. He oscillates between the organic and the fake, the architectural element and nature (this can be a forest or the sky with the symbolic meaning). Mapping on paper with scissors cuttings, serigraphs and graphite. The outline and form depict new landscapes of an allegorical and dark world.
Philippos Vasiliades
The drawings of F. V. characterized by a meticulous accuracy almost an obsession for detail on line and form. The final result looks more like a gravure reproduction than with a free-hand drawing. Attracted by the importance that futurology may have, but mainly from its graphic aesthetics of its media, he adapts a given form, here a deck, makes it from scratch and so it becomes a way to capture a new conceptual and visual value.

Evelyn Anastasiou (left), Savvas Christodoulides (right), ground floor, installation view

Savvas Christodoulides (left), Angelos Makrides (right), ground floor, installation view

Stelios Kallinikou (left), Elina ioannou (right), ground floor, installation view

Phanos Kyriacou, ground floor, installation view

Vicky Pericleous, Philippos Vasilliades, Angelos Makrides, Savvas Christodoulides, first floor, installation view

Savvas Christodoulides, Evelyn Anastasiou, Panagiotis Mina, first floor, installation view

Sotiris Kallis, Evelyn Anastasiou, first floor, installation view

Lefteris Tapas, first floor, installation view

Philippos Vasiliades

Panagiotis Mina

Socratis Socratous (left), Alexandros Pissourios (right), basement, installation view

Socratis Socratous

Stelios Kallinikou

 

 

 


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