IntroductionOPEN presents art works installed in public spaces in various locations around Lido. Over the years, the list of participants has come to include a series of established international artists and curators such as, Lois Weinberger, Louise Bourgeois, Niki De Saint Phalle, Richard Long, Marc Quinn, Marisa Merz, Sandro Chia, Yoko Ono, Keith Haring, Pierre Restany, Achille Bonito Oliva, Lorand Hegyi, Beral Madra, Alanna Heiss, as well as Greek artists whose work is also known internationally such as Theodoros, Costas Varotsos and Danae Stratou.
Open is organised by Arte Communications and curated by Paolo de Grandis. Since 2009, Christos Savvidis is the commissioner of the Greek participations. Two Greek artists participate in the 2011 exhibition: Alexandra Marati, with new work curated by Thalea Stefanidou, and Aristotelis Deligiannidis, invited to revisit his 2009 participation still in place at Lido. |
Lido, Venice, Italy |
Alexandra Marati: "Exelixis"I first wrote down the work's title - itself part of the work: Exelixis - the Greek word for Evolution. I broke it down into syllables: EX - EL - IX - I - S. The word's power to make use of symbols-references, such as letters (X, ex - L, el), in order to convey the concept of size, of the monumental, and ultimately of the earthy intellect's need to touch upon greatness, to construct the utopia of Babel, gave me pleasure; I was equally pleased by the serpentine-like dynamics of the word's ending, bearing the harmoniously endless S. [...]
Alexandra Marati's pyramid was constructed according to careful and accurate calculations of hidden substructures. It incorporates a clearly visual definition of space and it functions as an armature arranged based on life rhythms, on the analogy of nature and on the analogy of oppositions. A geometric, comprehensive universe of mathematic elegance that among others signals a point of entry into the infinite; in other words, engages with the unseen encounter with the omnipresent fourth dimension. A concise geometric manifesto of both human arrogance and humility. Thalea Stefanidou Art historian, curator Excerpt from the catalogue text. |
Lido, Venice, Italy |
Aristotelis Deligiannidis: "Layers III"Aristotelis Deligiannidis’s cross-shaped plexiglas construction/installation bears traces and graphics in black and white. It is still standing, a year later, at the outdoors location where it was initially installed on the occasion of OPEN 12.
Before the work’s transportation and installation at its final location (Lido’s new public library), the artist will rework it, through his intense painterly gesture, using color this time. The goal is not to fill in the gaps, the surfaces untouched by the artist’s writing on the transparent material; rather, the artist introduces color as a new layer upon last year’s non-colored gestures and "softens" their somewhat aggressive quality. The audience is thus lead one step further, towards renewed interpretative connotations or diversions which result from the adding of color, perceived as a changed sensitivity, or as the alteration of the transparent plexiglas surface into areas less penetrable by one’s gaze. This additional or supplementary action through which the artist retouches and reinvestigates the work, seems to be a kind of explicit and ironic reassertion of the art work’s definitely incomplete quality, constantly doubted by the artist himself. This transformed, enriched construction/installation introduces a new conceptual framework; ultimately, a renewed promise for the understanding and awareness of human activity. It seems as though this is a long ago scheduled meeting, which however bears the freshness and dynamic qualities of a random re-discovery that brings new qualities and new life. Thalea Stefanidou Art historian, curator |
Lido, Venice, Italy |
