ATHENS PRINTMAKING ART CENTER-PANDOLFINI & SIATERLI C.N.P.P. invites you to the group printmaking exhibition “Under Pressure II” with the works of Judy Attwood, Tania Drogossi,  Christos Magganas, Lena Mitsolodou, Antigone Valery and Stella Vardaki, at ETCH INK Art Space from 18 November until 17 December 2022. The exhibition brings together six visual artists, through diverse artistic approaches, expressive qualities and printing techniques. Common thread between the artworks is the etching process on the metal plate and the pressure of the printing press, which conceptually mirrors the experience of “pressure” as an emotional state, while the artistic alternatives proposed by the artists manifest as expressive releases.

The second part of the exhibition Under Pressure is presented at a crucial moment in time after almost two years of confinement which have caused mental and spiritual exhaustion. Within this framework, the artistic quests of this exhibition are shifted to the here and now, aligned to the current contemporary concerns. During isolation, the feeling of pressure took for the first time such a collective and influential weight, as a common experience shared amongst individuals who were confined to restricted spaces. The public space, as site for communal experiences and collectivity, was evacuated and completely stripped of its original communal purposes and operations that are usually performed in it. Consequently, workshops and art studios were on pause, not so much in terms of artistic productivity, but at the level where, as spaces for creative encounters and interactions between artists, they had to suspend these  functions that presume their role as social spaces. Interaction, sharing, exchange: words that encapsulate notions such as activity, extroversion and collectivity, and whose social connotations are prerequisite for the existence and continuation of contemporary art.

Through studio encounters and a group presentation of their personal projects, Judy Attwood, Tania Drogossi, Christos Magganas, Lena Mitsolidou, Antigone Valery and Stella Vardaki use the language of printmaking as a common vehicle of expression. The imprint of the ink and the fierce pressure of the press act as creative releases.  Judy Attwood draws her themes from the natural world, focusing on an iconographic repertoire including representations of animal forms, and surrealist references alluding to the elusiveness of dreams. Antigone Valeri’s abstract representations of the city offer an alternative way of looking at and structuring the space, inviting us to shift our perspective towards more condensed forms. Stella Vardaki explores the details, fragments and cracked surfaces through a magnifying glass, unraveling the materiality of invisible micro-worlds. Christos Magganas explores the expressive potential of self-portraiture through a personal style that employs humour, sarcasm and the paradox, aesthetically related to the grotesque.  Lena Mitsolidou explores claustrophobic mental states and various social constraints through an apt combination of humour, surrealism, dark aesthetics and autobiographical references.

In the convergence of this exhibition, the participating artists build on a multi-dimensional narrative open to experimentations and trials, as well as to the multiple personal perspectives, voices and fruitful perceptions that are opening up.

Participating artists: Judy Attwood, Tania Drogossi,  Christos Magganas, Lena Mitsolodou, Antigone Valery, Stella Vardaki

Curatorial note: Vassia Magoula

Catalogue design: Valentini Mavrodoglou

The exhibition “Under Pressure II” is organised with the support and the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.

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ETCH INK Art Space

16, Argyroupoleos, Lycabettus, Athens

Opening

Friday 18 November 2022 , 18:30 – 22:30

Dates

18 November – 17 December  2022

Visiting days & hours

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

Contact

[email protected]
www.athens-printmaking.com