Fire in the Lake

Fire in the Lake by Eleni Mylonas

at Zoumboulakis Gallery.

The exhibition consists of a 13 minute performance-for-the camera video, an installation and photographic works. It's about the devastating consequences of climate change.

This is what Mylonas has to say about the work: 'I walked down to the sea shore to take a swim on an August afternoon and I saw strange objects floating on the surface. I dipped my hand in and brought up a handful of burned wood shards. A thick black pulp was covering the seas as far as the eye could see. It was an alien apocalyptic sight. I photographed and video recorded the scene and I gathered several sacks of black pulp, pine cones, sticks and an assortment of other incinerated objects. 

I brought this material back to my studio and I created a mandala as a monument to the losses suffered from the wild fires, now a familiar worldwide event. The classification of the objects composing the installation is reminiscent of a museum display or perhaps of a burial ground of fallen soldiers. The work was completed during the performance for the camera coming full circle with the ominous destruction of the mandala itself'.

Snippets from the video installation:

'It's interesting how people read different messages from the same material. The work is more about the necessity for change than a harbinger of doom. Hexagram 49 of the I Ching, Fire in the Lake, hence the title, speaks of eternal values, revolution in thought and behaviour. Of the necessity for transformation. There are always different levels in a multimedia work like this one. There is creation, destruction and there is rebirth. Many people saw hope and found it uplifting. Others maybe not so much. Life is life, we all know that by now, all of it just is. And we adjust. With losses.

It was imperative to me that I collect this material and try to decipher its message. The first installation of this material took place in my studio in Aegina. I also did a time-lapse video of my self-creating the mandala in the studio. I actually filmed it when I was taking it down, de-installing, which is a lot faster and easier, and I played it backwards'.

The in-situ installation:

looking closer

The photographs:

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looking closer

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Finally, the artist herself with driftwood.

The art trail

One of the first things we do when we have settled back in Athens, is go to Kolonaki and walk around. We stop at some of the private galleries in the area and look at what's on. This time it was quite disappointing, nothing that we particularly liked, except for the video installation at the Zoumboulakis gallery which I will post about separately. It was nevertheless a pleasant morning.

We stopped at the Roma gallery to see an exhibition by Francesco Passanti.

Next stop, Skoufa Gallery, where they had a group exhibition

Their catalogue was a bit of a mess, so I could not find out who this seascape is by.

Giorgos Hadoulis, (oil on canvas)

Panagiotis Toundas, (oil on canvas)

Giannis Michaelides, (acrylic on paper)

Kalliope Asargiotaki, (oil on canvas)

Giannis Michaelides

Kalfayan Gallery had an exhibition by Panos Tsagaris

Gallery Genesis exhibited the work of Giorgos Kevrekides

It was time for lunch so we walked up the hill to Phillipou

their outdoor space is small but perfectly formed.

All the tables were booked bar one, so we sat and had lunch in splendid isolation - all the people who had booked were obviously going to have a late lunch.

 

Masters at the Alimos Municipal Gallery

I have written before about the Alimos Municipal Gallery. It's wonderful having such a resource near where we live. You can go here to read more about it.

The Masters

 at the Alimos Municipal Gallery.

A collection of paintings by some of the most important Greek contemporary artists. 

Giannis Psychopaides, The Letter that Didn't Arrive, (mixed media), 1981

looking closer

Nikos Hatzikyriakos-Ghikas, Jason and Medea, (varnished plaster)

Apostolos Georgiou, Untitled, (oil on canvas)

Sotiris Sorogas, Erifyli, 2014, (colour pencils on paper)

Chronis Botsoglou, Diary Pages, 1983, (aquarelle and pencil on paper)

Eugenios Spatharis, Uncle Giorgos, (shadow puppet, acrylic paint on leather)

Eugenios Spatharis, Karagiozis, (shadow puppet, acrylic on leather)

Spiros Vassiliou, Lamp, 1982, (oil on canvas)

Giannis Tsarouchis, Panaretos, 1986, (pastels and colour pencils on paper)

Konstantinos Parthenis, Female Portrait, (pencil drawing)

Konstantinos Parthenis, Exhibition Poster, 1920

Alekos Fasianos, In Front of the Mirror, (oil on canvas)

Dimitris Mytaras, Two Female Figures, (pastels on board)

Dimitris Mytaras, Female Figure, (pastels on board)

Diamantis Diamantopoulos, The Drama of the Body, (oil on canvas)

Alekos Fasianos, Little Anachronistic Suite or the Life of Anastasios in 24 Hours, 1970, (oil on canvas with gold leaf)

Makis Theofylaktopoulos, Figure, 2019, (oil on canvas)

Triantafyllos Patraskidis, Erotic A, (acrylic)

Nikos Kessanlis, Untitled, (reprography)

Tassos Mantzavinos, Kafka's Dream, 2013, (acrylic on canvas)

Yannis Gaitis, Figures, (oil on canvas)

Panos Fidakis, 4 Figures Indoors, (acrylic on cardboard)

Dimitris Alithinos, My Dreams Create Images, (acrylic and mixed media on paper)

Giorgos Stathopoulos, Woman Bathing, 1974

Giorgos Stathopoulos, Woman Bathing, 1976

Giorgos Stathopoulos, Woman Bathing, 1975

As we were leaving, we saw this sculpture at the entrance. It's by Theodoros Papayiannis, titled, Immigrants. Apparently it broke and had just come back from the restorers: the break has been fixed well, but the colour is all wrong, I'm afraid to say. 

You can see the post on this exhibition here - it's worth a look as I think Papayiannis' work is wonderful.