The Athens International Airport and the “Art-Athina” International Contemporary Art Fair continue their artistic collaboration with two new thematic exhibitions: On Departures’ level, visitors will take a journey through the history of Athens and its environment as well as on the history of contemporary art in public space, while, on Arrivals, video-works by well-known artists are on display on the “Journey” thematic. The new exhibitions at the airport constitute the second stage in this artistic joint project and access to the public is free, on a 24-hour basis, from May 4th to August 31st. “The walls of Athens and their Destiny” “Art and Environment” exhibition space (Departures Level) Following the exhibition “The Athens of yesterday, today” displayed previously at the airport, “The walls of Athens and their Destiny” examines the street art of graffiti, the monumental record of the forbidden and the ephemeral; an art outside the established institutions. Graffiti is an art that is anonymous but not without its specific practitioners, who are disputed but not without their own recorded history. The pioneer apologist of the walls of Athens and their bittersweet story and forerunner of today’s street artists was the internationally acclaimed Vlassis Caniaris (1928-2011). His work at the airport opens the exhibition of the contemporary graffiti artists of Athens, their ‘tags’ and their large narrative compositions. Curated by Manos Stefanidis, the show features works by Manolis Anastasakos and Alexandros Vasmoulakis. “The Journey: 5 different viewpoints” “Art and Culture” exhibition space (Arrivals Level) As part of the thematic cycle on “The Journey”, which opened with Jenny Marketou’s “Stolen Bubbles”, the new exhibition at the airport presents the video-works of 5 contemporary artists under the general title “The Journey: 5 different viewpoints”. The curator of the show is Artemis Potamianou. The work of Fotini Gousseti comments on a desirable yet impossible journey. The main characteristic in Lina Theodorou’s “Cul-de-sac” is the individual’s entrapment in a mental dead-end through the traveller who finds himself caught up in a timeless place. Angelos Spartalis presents, specifically for the airport, his 15-minute take on “From the Earth to the Moon”, the first Greek animation feature film, making a humorous yet caustic critique. The show includes also two works inspired by the airport itself: Yannis Grigoriadis presents “Deus ex machina”, a digital collage of processed archive footage from the arrival of celebrities at Hellenikon airport in the 60s and 70s, while Erato Hatzisavva uses the repetitive motif of the changeable motion of birds to bring an intense impression of kinetic energy into the room. Art- Athina tel: 210 92 21 254 e-mail: press@art-athina.gr www.art-athina.gr
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