“Studio Encounters”

Amphicar Studio presents “Studio Encounters”, a group show curated by Odette Kouzou.

Opening Day: Friday 4 June, 16.00 pm -22.00 pm
Exhibition duration: 5 and 6 June, 12.00 pm - 20.00 pm
Location: Ekatis 7 Galatsi

Amphicar Studio is an artist-run space, founded by the artist Marilia Kolibiri, in the Galatsi area near the centre of Athens, willing to inaugurate a platform open to collaborations and ideas within the local contemporary art scene.

Participating Artists: Antonakis, Sofia Stevi, Panos Papadopoulos, Marilia Kolibiri, Socrates Fatouros, Maria Louizou, Evgenia Vereli, Sofia Gaafar, Alexandros Simopoulos, Eleni Tsamadia, Odysseas Mourellos, Maria Papaschidou, Danai Kotsaki, George Stamatakis, Nephele Tsantaki, Kyriakos Mitropoulos, Vanesa Papandreou, Dimitra Zervou, Elli Fotopoulou, Alexandra Mantzou - Sakellariadou, The Krank

“Studio Encounters” brings together twenty-one artists to investigate matters of intimacy and highlight the personal relationship between the artists and their studios. Focusing on this relationship, the working areas of the space are transformed into a coherent exhibition referencing the artists’ working environments and exploring a sense of familiarity that is present in the studio. The collection of works selected creates a narrative of studio visits as they were enacted through the conversations during the curatorial process of engaging with the artists’ every-day life in the studio. Trying to move forward from the practice of simply looking at the artworks as passive viewers, we arrive to a point where it becomes a matter of urgency to learn how to listen to the artists, inasmuch as we are keen to comprehend what both the visual and the profound aspects of the artworks are. Encountering the different artistic practices, methodologies and processes of work, matters of intimacy are coming to the foreground. Τhe familiarity with those practices functions as the parameter that the show is composed of, in order to bring the audience closer to that state of intimacy within the space of the studio.

Antonakis has a persistent archival process that is ongoing and perpetuated through time in order for this archive to be revisited, re-thought and re-worked by the artist later. His subjects are coming from TV shows, realities, YouTube and pornography, creating what he calls as “mythology of the screen”.

Sofia Stevi almost equates her mind with her studio. A connection that is so strong, the studio becomes herself. Her work blurs the thin line between fantasy and reality, narrating situations that could have just happened in the realm of reality but there is always something a bit off. Her process relies mostly on oral traditions of storytelling as well as literature of many kinds.

Panos Papadopoulos considers his work process as a meditation practice. The repetitive actions needed for the preparation of the canvas as well as the production of the final outcome are always similar. His works deal with the quality of contemporary life, space, objects, humans and love.

Through her new series of works, Marilia Kolibiri raises questions about the concept of dwelling at home as it is shaped in our contemporary everyday life. The artist meditates on the relationship between humans and objecthood, and comments on the fact that the objects tend to matter way more than the humans; how humanized the objects that surround us are as opposed to how objectified the human-beings are.

Socrates Fatouros re-synthesizes images of lands that have either been destroyed or bear the tension of imminent annihilation. Central to his work is the utilization of industrial materials that serve building purposes - structural and insulating materials such as polyurethane and bitumen sheets. Through a time-based technique, centering on the idea of perseverance through time, the artist aims to re-construct our approach towards experiencing and viewing the world and ourselves.

Maria Louizou explores forgotten traditions and visual forms of the past in order to create an audiovisual experience. In her work she combines performance and sculpture where she treats the sculptural forms and sounds as two separate bodies that become one. Her fields of interest lie in inhabiting the performance space, defining the identity and the relation with tradition, viewing the performer as a living sound box, observing the absence of modern mechanisms for expressing loss, whether it concerns a human being or a locus.

Deeply concerned with issues of identity and self-identification, gender, social status and sexuality, Eugenia Vereli challenges the position one holds in relation to freedom of self-expression, and expression in the context of freedom of criticism and engagement from afar, liberated from the peer pressure of involvement in a social entourage. In a universe where myths and battles interact with contemporary society as a commentary, pleasures and imperfections are not hidden.

Sofia Gaafar is concerned with our daily life as users, our relationships and the “social constructions'' that take upon another form. Her photographic images are determined by food, fashion, and the environment alongside with what’s trending within the social reality we live in.

Alexandros Simopoulos’ work is based on a visual language that uses public space, nature, oral tradition, folk mythology and legend, folk art, the naive and the humorous as key-points to discuss the human condition and reflect the current social and political context. His paintings relate to both collective, as well as very personal experiences that he presents in an ambiguous way, being both humorous and tender but also cynical and dark in a way at the same time.

Eleni Tsamadia refers to her artistic practice as an ongoing experiment that aims to ingest different layers of information in a singular image, a temporary flash. To facilitate this flash image, she uses the body and its psychobiological experience as her pictorial protagonist.

Odysseas Mourellos’ work emerges through a gesture painting based on spontaneity, improvisation and the organicity of movement. His process of painting becomes a process of alternating situations where creation is intertwined with destruction.

Maria Papaschidou's work plays around with ideas of materialism and narcissism that own a decisive role in our current lives and addictions that we engage with. Distortion of reality is often evident in her paintings as they are influenced by the twisted representation of reality in social media that dominates contemporary societies. Inspired by the overwhelming bombarding of information through social media, she intends to increase the imagination and create a stimulus for self-exploration.

Danai Kotsaki’s visual work includes sculpture making and design. Her medium is for the most part metal, which she transforms into kinetic sculptures as analogous to the human body. The installations she creates either include her own music compositions and sound environments or the works themselves produce their own sounds as a result of the artist introducing a performative component that sets them into motion, and become an interactive physical experience for the viewer.

George Stamatakis’ paintings are perceived as a form of documentation of the current public isolation in a dialogue with the beauty in arts. He comes to a point during creating a painting that it appears urgent for him to find a balance between his research and the conditions of contingency necessary for the accomplishment of the work.

The concepts of animism and ecocentrism, cult practices and the culture of indigenous groups from around the world are among the main sources that fuel Nephele Tsantaki as the inspiration for her artistic practice. By presenting the criticality of natural diversity due to human influence and intervention, she raises awareness about animal rights, land ethics, the appreciation of the ecosystem and biodiversity as well as the support of environmental philosophy.

Kyriakos Mitropoulos’ work derives from personal narratives which carry multiple readings. In his work, the artist is dealing with subjects related to contemporary social and political reality, the human condition via touch and its traces.

Vanesa Papandreou’s work focuses on design matters concerning the figure’s movement into her sketches.

Dimitra Zervou’s practice is based on the depiction of memory and the meaning of time. Cast as the main material of her sculptures as well as the hardness that is imprinted on it, facilitates her project conceptually by conveying the picture of immobility as it collides with its water-soluble property.

Elli Fotopoulou’s practice revolves around the observed environment and the observed self from a third person’s perspective. Dealing with space and sculpture, she is interested in the contradiction of elements; materiality and immateriality as they can be captured and finally meet through forms or senses.

Alexandra Mantzou - Sakellariadou is following a diary-like process by keeping her daily observations, moments, thoughts and feelings and transferring them onto the canvas. In order to avoid neglecting those instances of everyday life, she has been visualizing them to keep them alive.

The Krank creates a visual language deeply impacted by the psychology of contemporary societies. By synthesizing the conscious and the subconscious through written speech, his process itself unfolds multiple layers of meaning and interpretation. Figures, silhouettes and imaginary horizons coexist within an abstract environment, flooded with cryptic messages, in order to develop an ethical state within societal structures.


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The event will follow all the necessary regulations. Masks are mandatory.