Monday 12 September 2011

On the Balcony, curated by Iliana Fokianaki for Remap 3

iLiana Fokianaki and Art Hub Athens are pleased to present…



ON THE BALCONY



12th of September - 30 October 2011
for opening hours please visit www.remapkm.org

Dafni Barbageorgopoulou, Doug Fishbone, Assaf Gruber, Katerina Kana, Theo Prodromidis, Alexandros Psychoulis.

Balconies are an outdoors extension of a floor. They are normally closed up to a certain hight and made of a solid or see-through surface. Their origin is found as early as ancient Greece and Italy, but there is a flourish of their use throughout the centuries in Europe and Asia.

Six artists are invited to present, display, address and demonstrate their view on the balcony either it is through sculpture, poetry, photography, installation or...serenades.

The global use of the balcony is the first attractive element that is inspiring for this group exhibition, especially in relation to the globality of the neighbourhood of KM, that is inhabited by several nationalities.

Another very interesting aspect of the use of balconies is their use as an area for its owner to display its position or viewpoint. In villages in the period of Easter, housewives displayed a red cloth to inform passer-by’s they are dying eggs. In national holidays Greeks display the Greek flag to show their national pride, and in football matches their team's flag to show their joy for the win. In the greek language "i am standing on a balcony" translates to i am running for a candidate in politics.
In this year's Remap -that is in its own right a walk in the historical centre of Athens- the viewer is asked to walk through the area in order to discover and track works of art displayed in balconies or windows of buildings, all around the area of KM. The works that are placed above the eye level, are "displayed" in a balcony to be "exhibited" to their audience, to "address" their audience, therefore due to their position, they obtains a somewhat "godlike" status. The position of the viewer on street level and that of the work of art a few metres above ground, is possibly creating what Kant called the sublime.
Especially during this time that Greece is in an intense political and economical situation, the notions of "display", "exhibition" "position" that the balcony offers, are even more relevant. What do we choose to "exhibit" "display" or "support" today? Possibly works of art are one of the few that are left. 

Locations:

PERFORMANCE times and locations

Leonidou 9 (Rebecca Camhi Gallery) Theo Prodromidis performance opening night performance Nalyssa Green at 8pm (for further performance dates and times please visit www.remapkm.org)

The invitation to six athens-based bands to perform a disruption of the everyday aesthetic experience of this street in Kerameikos, on the facarde of a neoclassical house turned into a gallery, introduces an action bound with Mediterranean traditions and mythical love stories, that of the serenade, but reversed in its dynamic, from the balcony to the street.


Katerina Kana's poem recited by actress Calliopi Simou every half an hour from 17.30 onwards - Leonidou 25 4th floor window.

Our other locations are at the following balconies-

Dafni Eleonora Barbageorgopoulou - installation - Iassonos 26
Doug Fishbone - photograph - Giatrakou 28
Assaf Gruber -sculpture - balcony at Leonidou 38 (former Galini hotel)
Alexandros Psychoulis - sculptures - Leonidou 15 1st floor balcony facing Leonidou street

The exhibition is curated by Iliana Fokianaki
For more information on the show and Art Hub Athens as well as images please contact:
arthubathens@gmail.com or ilianafokianaki@gmail.com, +306945472694
www.ilianafokianaki.com
www.arthubathens.blogspot.com

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