Self Portrait

The ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER – PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI C.N.P.P. is accepting submissions from emerging and established printmakers, visual artists and groups, from all over the world for its upcoming exhibition under the topic of Self Portrait. The ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER welcomes proposals from the entire spectrum of printmaking, encouraging artistic dialogue and experimentation on the techniques and visual representations.

Artists have been always exploring artistic expression through self-representation. Looking back into the history of art, manifestations of this artistic exploration are traced in the historical tradition of portraiture and painting, the later emergence and distribution of 19th century photography, as well as the selfies culture of our contemporary times. Self-portraiture has been a recurring theme, bringing the artist’s own image and the notion of the self to the forefront of artistic exploration and visual experimentation. In many cases, self portraits have served as studies of an artist’s personal style and development, of one’s own visual vocabulary, as well as a means of self-observation and introspection. What is the truth of the portrait and the truth of the artist? What is the need and the driving force behind the visual representation of ourselves and our image? The emerging themes of this artistic practice can open up the discourse around issues of intimacy, identity, personal experience, body and memory. 

Through a sociopolitical lens, the artist’s self-portrait is tightly connected to the context from which it was born, bearing the mark and the contemporary challenges of this particular time. Beyond individual experience, self staged images often reveal aspects of reality that would otherwise have been secret and hidden to the viewer. Which are, for example, the indications and the messages revealed behind a portrait that has been created within a time of confinement and harsh restrictions of the Covid-19 era? What do such portraits actually unravel about our individual and collective bodies? Performing the self in the arts is a practice capable of opening up new trajectories towards collective quests and wider social and political manifestations, rather than just another individual narrative that claims to be heard. 

The selected works will be presented in a physical exhibition at ETCH INK art space, the gallery space of the ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER, between February and June 2023. Official dates will be announced later in 2022.

Application deadline

To apply, please fill out the online application form, submitting all required entry materials, until 25 October 2022.

General terms and conditions:

• Artists are welcomed to submit works from a wide spectrum of printmaking techniques including woodcut, linocut, silkprint, dry point, etching, sugarlift, lithography, collagraph etc. We encourage projects that have the possibility of being reprinted and come from a matrix/plate, rather than monotypes. Digital prints are not accepted. However, proposals that include digital processes are very welcomed when combined with traditional printmaking techniques. 
• Submitted works should not exceed 22 x 30 cm. (paper size). Applications for works of larger size will not be accepted.
• Interested candidates can apply for free by filling out the online application form.
• Participation fee: 55 Euro + 10 euro shipping expenses (return of artworks).
• Please note that the participation fee concerns only the applicants that have been successfully selected and have confirmed their participation in the exhibition. 
• Artists can apply for more than one project by filling out a separate application form for each one of them. If more than one work is selected, participants will benefit from a 10% discount on the total cost of the participation fee.
• The participation fee is non-refundable.
• Shipping costs are covered by the artists.

More about the ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER – PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI

The ΑΤHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER – PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI was founded by the artists Pino Pandolfini and Dimitra Siaterli. It has been running in Athens since 1977 as an open workshop for art and printmaking. Its activities include many cultural activities, exhibitions and exchange exhibitions in Greece and abroad, printing artworks, art editions, cooperation with artists, cultural organizations, galleries, schools, regular seminars and lesson programs. The aim of the ΑΤHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI, from its founding until now, has been to make accessible the language of printmaking, the history, the potential and its particular expressive power in the art world. The lengthy historical pathway of the space includes important collaborations with artists and institutions from Greece and abroad, which have strengthened the cultural exchange and community of the domestic art scene. By supporting the participation in the creative process and the personal stylings of the artist, the organization encourages the inherent production of printmaking, as well as the interdisciplinary workings of art.

After an artistic mission of 44 years, the ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER – PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI, today estimates the production of approximately 1500 prints from 160 artists, who have collaborated with the workshop during its many years within the domestic and European art scene. The collection of the Athens Printmaking Art Center continues to be enriched with new works to this day. Since 2018, the ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI opened for the public as a non-profit the cultural center ETCH INK art space, in the center of Athens. ETCH INK art space operates as the headquarters of C.N.P.P., as an exhibition space for art and printmaking, as a space for seminars and printmaking workshops, as an artistic space for projects, conferences, lectures, screenings, research programs on printmaking and its relations with other art forms, with other cultural organizations and galleries. Following the  exhibitions Herbarium, Bestiarium I & II, the upcoming exhibition Self Portrait is the fourth international exhibition organised and produced by the ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER at ETCH INK art space.

Please note:

The shortlisted artists will be notified by email and will receive more instructions about the procedure and the shipping of artworks.

Communication

For any questions, please get in touch by sending an email to:

[email protected] using “Self Portrait – Name/Surname” as the Subject Line, or message us on Facebook and Instagram.