09 Sep 2014

Contemporary Greek Artists at SMFA Boston

Greece's recent political and social turmoil has had profound effects on the country's cultural landscape, creating shifting notions about its identity. September 9–October 18, 2014, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA), will showcase eleven emerging and mid-career Greek artists for the exhibition 'Reverb: New Art from Greece.'

Guest curated by Eirene Efstathiou and independent curator Evita Tsokanta, 'Reverb' will present a wide range of artistic forms and trends illustrating the way artists are interpreting and responding to the reverberations of social, political, and economic conditions during this crucial time in Greece's history. Exploring themes such as the appropriation of history and found objects, 'Reverb' will present an authentic view of the way Greek citizens have experienced the changing landscape, in stark contrast to the way the media and political leaders have depicted the situation.

Loukia Alavanou's Duckator explores memory and the formation of identities through manipulated accounts of history; Anastasia Douka's Bad Blood_ Sentiments of a Giant pursues conceptual deconstruction and subsequent physical reconstruction of objects as a metaphor for the archetypal cycle of production; Eirene Efstathiou's We Are Not (Just) an Image on TV and Partial Map of the Social Unrest in Athens are meditations on memory and the public sphere, focusing on instances of dissent and civil unrest from Athens in the 1990s; Andreas Ragnar Kassapis' When he returned, he was not a child anymore I and II explores the relationship between collective and individual memory; Dimitris Papoutsakis's Newspaper with Five Hazy Days and Ore Bounce investigate the border between analog and digital worlds, surveying the shifting line between the tangible and the abstract; Eftihis Patsourakis' Equivalence of Casualties and Horizon examine social realities of the Greek middle class of the post-dictatorship era.

Nana Sachini's Let no one enter who is unwilling to refute loneliness is an exploration of contemporary metaphysics, depicting a cycle of life: trials and tribulations leading to recuperation and rebirth; Yorgos Sapountzis' Knock, Knock Monument explores sculpture in urban contexts, testing the parameters of public behavior and the distinction between public and private space; Vangelis Vlahos' Objects to relate to a trial (3 suitcases, 2 travel bags, a typewriter and one colour TV) explores the role obfuscation plays in political life through the lens of the George Koskotas scandal; Paky Vlassopoulou's In Explosions in the Sky – Welcome, Ghosts explores the interplay between body and matter, with each element of the composition the result of a studied interaction between the artist's body and her materials; Myrto Xanthopoulou's installation Beers, tangerines and ruins combines everyday, seemingly unlinked, Athenian moments to sketch out a portrait of contemporary Greek youth.

RELATED EVENTS
Tuesday, September 9, 5–7 pm
Opening Reception

Wednesday, September 10, 12–12:30 pm
For All the Reasons in the World, performance by Eirene Efstathiou
In this investigation of theatricality of dissent and the legibility of civil unrest, Efstathiou will walk along Newbury Street (Boston) reciting slogans in Greek with an antiquated megaphone.

Thursday, September 11, 12:30–2 pm
Curatorial presentation and tour of 'Reverb'

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 pm
Film screening and conversation, 'History Zero' by Stefanos Tsivopoulos
A film screening of 'History Zero,' which represented Greece at the 2013 Venice Biennial, and conversation between Tsivopoulos and SMFA faculty members Jane Gillooly and Tina Wasserman.

Generously funded by Fotene Demoulas and Tom Cote, FAGE USA, David and Nicole Kokolakis Borden, and the Leo and Eve Condakes Charitable Foundation.