Saturday 21 September 2013

EginaAigina



EginaAigina in Aigina.






Beautiful art in this gallery. I have already posted on the ceramics of Theodora Horafa and Margarita Ecclesiarchou .

We also looked at Henri-Paul Coulon's photographs of the trunks of old olive trees, and at the ceramics and sculpture in their permanent collection.



Henri-Paul Coulon:



 
 
 













The permanent collection:



 
Ellen Ioannidi, (bronze)
 
 
 
 


Ellen Ioannidi, (bronze)






Mika Vogiatzi








4 comments:

  1. The gallery looks a fantastic place, and it seems that work sells - who buys it? Is it mostly visitors to the island? Is the gallery only open in the summer months?
    I love the penultimate piece - is it ceramic, or glass?

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    1. The ceramic bowl by Mika Vogiatzi was my favourite too: there were three that were similar but not identical that were grouped together and I was very tempted to buy them as they were amongst the few of the things I could afford, but I resisted.

      As for the gallery, I don't have answers to your questions, Olga. I should have asked really, but we were a bit stressed when we finally got inside the gallery. We went on Saturday at 10:30 which was the opening time according to the poster, but it did not open until 11:10, so we hang around waiting, worrying about missing the bus that would take us to Agia Marina. The woman who opened the gallery told us that she had overslept.

      My guess is that it's mainly visitors who buy the art, but also the large number of people who have holiday cottages in Aigina - it's so close to Athens that people can go there for the weekend. Aigina also has a reputation as an artists' colony: lots of painters, sculptors and ceramicists live on the island. It was the only shop of its kind in the town, the rest were functional shops that sold food, clothes and lots and lots of hardware. A beautiful gallery.

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  2. Thank you for answering my questions. I am just curious because so many galleries which sell ceramics seem to have been closing here.

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    1. I don't feel I had real answers. When I read your questions, I thought: 'I want to know the answers to these, why did I not ask?' because you're right, galleries that sell ceramics in the UK are closing down. But, as I said, we did not have much time in the gallery.

      I think that it's probably doing well because there are so many artists who live and work in Aigina. Theodora Horafa's work for instance: I had seen images of her ceramics, but every time I asked where I could see them in the flesh, so to speak, the answer always was: 'in Aigina. She only exhibits there'. The other ceramicists who exhibited in the gallery might also live in Aigina, I don't know. I know that Mika Vogiatzi, whose bowl we both liked, was a student of hers, so, she probably lives in Aigina too.

      But, as you say, ceramics is not doing too well in the UK and it's such a shame.

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