Eidyllia Οdos
18.01 – 6.03.2022
Concept / Curation: Maria Marangou
33 participating artists
From January 18 to March 6, 2022, Technopolis City of Athens presents the contemporary art exhibition "Eidyllia Odos", with works by 33 artists from Greece and abroad, based on an idea conceived and curated by Maria Marangou.
At "Eidyllia odos", artists and works can speak about the present of our past, without nostalgia, by manipulating the things they use as raw material. Things that have always existed and can be used in other ways for different needs. Earth/soil, wool, thatch, fabrics, marble, straw, threads and needles, looms.
In the gloom of the pandemic, global lockdowns and the looming threat of death, we choose escapism by sinking in thoughts and dreams. Favourite walks, the beauty of the Lycabettus paths, the Roman Agora, Anafiotika neighbourhood, leisurely enjoyed without passers-by. Athens without its hustle and bustle. The different sense of time, the thread of history and the cracks, social, economic, ideological, the manipulations of art in the global market condition, and us, in the first decades of the 21st century, following the ancient paths, listening to the whispers of the past.
Modern streets with names dating back to antiquity, leading to the same destination as 25 centuries ago. Panathenaion Street, Tripodon Street, Leokoriou Street, Dipylou Street, Eidyllia Street. A passage to Piraeus, Elefsina, to the city's outskirts, through the Hiera Pyle (Sacred Gate) or the Hierá Hodós (Sacred Way). Here, citizens and slaves carrying things walk and talk, mingling with animals and carts loaded with foods and clothing, trading goods stored in the ports waiting to be shipped.
A moment in time that creates the need to re-approach collective memory, the myth of origin transferred through genealogies. Art always joins, and sometimes dares amid this conflictual atmosphere, seeking to pave new ways for itself and society.
The 33 artists invited use many different media, defending the basic idea that the artist reflects his/her personal view of the environment in which he/she lives. The diversity of the media used by each of them demonstrates the techniques and details that constitute common ground. The city of Athens as a landmark and its long history are linked to a plethora of applied raw materials. Inductively, they may include: Soil transformed into clay / Hard marble / Threads and Weavings / Materials of the earth and nature / Embroidery / Paper / Artefacts
Eidyllia Odos touches upon or at least wishes to touch upon a piece of history, people, and the past through time, irreplaceable material of history and memory.
Participating artists:
Nikos Alexiou / Dimitrios Antonitsis / Evgenia Apostolou / Adonis Volanakis / Lynda Benglis / Zoi Gaitanidou / Voula Gounela / Marianna Ignataki / Anestis Ioannou / Ilias Koen / Thanos Kyriakides [Blind Adam] / Kalliopi Lemos / Vasiliki Lefkaditi / Eleni Lyra / Despina Meimaroglou / Michalis Michaelidis / Efsevia Michailidou / Konstantinos Palaiologos / Malvina Panagiotidi / Angelos Papadimitriou / Raymondos / Dimitris Rentoumis / Adrián Villar Rojas / Efi Spyrou / Danae Stratou / Magda Tammam / Nakis Tastsioglou / Nobuko Tsuchiya / Panos Famelis / Maro Fasouli / Sokratis Fatouros / Despina Flessa / Pantelis Chandris
Exhibition curator:
Maria Marangou, art critic / artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete