ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER – PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI C.N.P.P. presents Florence Christakis’ solo exhibition Chronoscopic impressions at ETCH INK art space from January 31 until March 1, 2025.

Christakis’ recent body of work insightfully intertwines etching with the art of portraiture, artist books, fiction writing, and a creative process of deconstructing and reimagining history. The exhibition invites visitors to discover the lives of eighteen people, both Greek and foreign. The life of each character is summarized in six to eight successive portraits of etchings – in both handmade artist books and wall-mounted works. Each portrait reveals the story of an important moment in the life of the person depicted. Each image is accompanied by a text, unfolding their story while encouraging the viewer’s engagement.

In her practice, she simultaneously embraces the principles and conventions of portraiture, and introduces distorting, deviant elements. Through free association, storytelling, and playful subversion, Christakis’ work offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the dynamics of the face.

The exhibition unfolds as an immersive game, a journey through the geography of the face and the events imprinted upon it. The more disfigurements they undergo, the more convincing their characters become. The less they conform to idealized standards of perfection, the more creatively audacious and intelligent a game they play. The greater the deviation from reason grows, the richer the narratives they tell. She aptly calls this secondary layer la folie, which in French translates to little madness, and metonymically denotes an irrational and inexplicable artistic gesture, injecting an element of playful disruption into the symmetry and structure of the portraits. Everyday life, the artist’s imagination, and historical events, which she deconstructs and reassembles into new artistic narratives, equally inform the themes in these stories. She reflects on the politics of memory through stories of migration and displacement, envisioning tales of the Greek diaspora while offering a subtle critique of Europe’s colonial legacy.

Art historian and museologist Vassia Magoula notesι: “Christakis humorously challenges dominant notions of sanctity and respect, critiquing the semantic and conceptual weight historically attributed to the representation of faces by christian education, culture, and art history. The portrait’s surface becomes a playground of tension and reverse reflection between similarity and difference, agreement and discord, order and deviation. Her practice creates a space of freedom where humor and the joy it brings, elevate the layers of meaning and symbolism within her portraits. Her practice highlights laughter and enjoyment as essential modes of aesthetic experience and of perceiving art.

Guided tours and parallel activities will be organized in the context of the exhibition, for which there will be upcoming announcements through the Athens Printmaking Art Centre – Pandolfini & Siatleri’s official website and social media pages.

Exhibition text: Vassia Magoula

Translation into English: Myrto Vratsanou

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ETCH INK art space

Argyroupoleos 16, Lycabettus, 114 71, Athens

Opening

Friday 31 January 2025, 6:30pm – 10:30pm

Duration

31 January – 1 March 2025

Opening days & hours

Wednesday – Thursday – Friday 17.00 – 21.00 & Saturday 11.00 – 15.00

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