Athens Printmaking Art Center – Pandolfini & SIaterli C.N.P.P. presents the collaborative exhibition Ties of Eri Agriou and Olga Bogdanou at ETCH INK art space from April 25 until June 1. The two artists present their work together for the first time to the public, through an honest and open dialogue focusing on interpersonal relationships. The title of the exhibition encapsulates the parallel trajectory of the two women, the artistic connections between their respective personal work, as well as the bonds that exist on a wider extent between people in contemporary societies. With a reflective, insightful and sensitive approach, the artists attempt to renegotiate the relationships and the emotions that accompany them in a post pandemic era of flux, constant anxiety and uncertainty.

Eri Agriou focuses on approaching the concept of fear by utilizing various media, forms and symbols in order to deconstruct and reduce it. Touching on her personal experiences, she addresses issues of adulthood, norms and conventions that modern people are called upon to respond to. Her work unravels by establishing the conditions of empowerment for both the artist herself and every woman.  In her prints she incorporates threads with material and allegorical implications, as well as fragments of poetic and religious discourse encouraging faith and hope towards an optimistic future.

Olga Bogdanou’s work is focused on contemporary concerns about human relationships, situations, and emotions that are often not externalized. She reveals this inner world with drastic interventions on the surface of the paper, allowing the signs of her intervention to remain visible, revealing new volumes and qualities of the medium itself. The relief and tactility of the result are emotionally signified by the artist, with the printmaking enhancing the way the traces and textures are rendered.

As noted by art historian and curator Elli Leventaki on the work of the two artists: “Printmaking is chosen as a methodological tool combined with various light materials,reflecting the fragility of coexistence today. In the work of both women, paper functions as a canvas but also as a material for delimiting spaces and thoughts, acquiring even a sculptural dimension in some cases. The textures of the materials are linked to creative processes, but also to meanings that touch upon emotions and experiences. A common practice is the use of words and phrases, which are organically integrated into the works of both artists. Choosing sometimes whole passages of texts around fear, as Agriou does, and sometimes single-word dynamic concepts, as Bogdanou does, the conviction that in the end, everything will be alright remains a constant in both cases.”

Exhibition text:  Elli Leventaki.

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ETCH INK art space

Argyroupoleos 16, Lycabettus, Athens

Opening

Thursday 25 April 2024, 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm

Dates 

25 April – 1 June 2024

Visiting hours 

Wednesday – Thursday – Friday 5.00pm – 9.00pm & Saturday 11.00am – 3.00pm

Contact  | [email protected] | www.athens-printmaking.com

*The exhibition will remain closed between 1-4/05.