ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ ΦΡΥΣΙΡΑ | ΣΥΓΧΡΟΝΗ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗ ΖΩΓΡΑΦΙΚΗ FRISSIRAS MUSEUM | CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN PAINTING πρόεδρος | president Βλάσης Φρυσίρας | Vlassis Frissiras αντιπρόεδρος | vice-president Αργυρώ Φρυσίρα | Argiro Frissira μέλη | members Στάμος Φρυσίρας | Stamos Frissiras Θανάσης Φρυσίρας | Thanassis Frissiras επιμελήτρια | chief curator Χριστίνα Σωτηροπούλου | Christina Sotiropoulou βοηθός επιμελητή | assistant curator Δημήτρης Μίλησης | Dimitris Milisis
ΚΑΤΑΛΟΓΟΣ | CATALOGUE επιμέλεια έκδοσης | editor Χριστίνα Σωτηροπούλου | Christina Sotiropoulou κείμενα | text Βλάσης Φρυσίρας | Vlassis Frissiras Χριστίνα Σωτηροπούλου | Christina Sotiropoulou μεταφράσεις | translations Χριστίνα Σωτηροπούλου | Christina Sotiropoulou Δημήτρης Μίλησης | Dimitris Milisis σχεδιασμός έκδοσης | layout Κωνσταντίνος Βαβυλουσάκης | Konstantinos Vaviloussakis διορθώσεις | proofreading Χριστίνα Σωτηροπούλου | Christina Sotiropoulou φωτογράφιση έργων | photographs of artwork Οδυσσέας Βαχαρίδης | Odysseas Vacharides εκτύπωση | printing Ε. Σιδεράτος - Ι. Σιδεράτος Ο.Ε. | E. Sideratos - I. Sideratos CO ISBN 978-960-99756-0-5 Μονής Αστερίου 3, Πλάκα, Αθήνα | 3 Monis Asteriou st., Plaka, Athens, tel: 210 32 34 678, 210 33 16 027 www.frissirasmuseum.com
02 | 03 | 2011_31 | 07 | 2011
PAINTING THAT DENNOUNCES COLOR
Undoubtely, one of the main characteristics of modern civilization is its total, unconditional surrender to the riveting power of image. Its total dominance has overcome national and geographical boundaries, cultural and religious limitations, moral and ethical conventions of every kind. Image has more or less become the exclusive medium to convey a message, undermining in most occasions even speech, which has always been an essential part of human expression. Man is dangerously prone to reach the point where thinking ceases to be reflected in speech and is devolving to its primal form of expression, the use of images. In this era of cataclysmic change, image has been established as an indispensable element of everyday life. It aspires to satisfy man's need for expression, communication, information, documentation, even creation; consequently, the need to redefine the role of painting in contemporary societies becomes more and more urgent. In essence, in a routine that entails a bombardment of information and the overconsumption of imagery, the art of painting is being presented with the ultimate challenge, that is, to redefine its own nature, confronting even the possibility of being unable to redefine its identity and function, facing the peril of ending up obsolete. Thus, one of the main issues of debate within the artworld today refers to the role of painting in the present era of image. Will we be witnessing the demise of painting, taking place in a world of
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omnipotent images? The ways in which painting makes its suggestions, in an effort to reformulate and fight the ultimate battle for its own survival, seem to be diverse. Many of them don't seem to lack boldness and honesty of intentions pursuing a daring approach to the problem. They often concur in suggesting the very re-establishment and radical reconsideration of its own essence. Non figurative painting, having already completed a very important course in the art scene during the 20th century, suggests the utter reform of the character of artistic expression by totally dismantling depiction, in order for painting not to be crushed by the contradiction with the image's uncomparable power of depiction in ways that it is available to us nowadays, being easily accesible in our daily routines through the use of technology's magnificent accomplishments. On the other hand, the (re)emerging trend in the past few years dictates the emphatic return of figurative painting, whether enriching the figurative dynamics through the use of complex, conceptual endeavors, bringing a whole new focus on the context or returning to a more contemporary realism which stands out promptly from our daily imagery. Being of outmost importance, color, in the hands of contemporary painters, is led to be a crucial factor of attraction, often serving an expressionistic function, thus transforming painting surfaces into a parallel reality, where everything explodes, achieving the artistic
overture that renders every other surrounding imagery insignificant, frail. Under these circumstances, what could possibly be the role of an alternative, a painting that dennounces color? Could it probably coincide with another hopeful, dynamic proposition, or it is doomed to fail since it steers clear of one of artistic creations' fundamental element? Color, seems to have evolved to a mandatory prerequisite in the contest for audience's preference. This is the point where, I reckon, lies the very importance of the exhibition BLACK&WHITE. In essence, it is a bold and daring proposal for our times, one that attempts to refocus on a concept of painting where the absence of color invites the audience to discover new values that lately have been streams, even obliterated, by the constant stream of color technological progress has showered us with. Nevertheless, this exhibition aims to remind us that great painting lies in the artistry of drawing, where decomposition is alligned with the disclosure of essence, beyond any possible deviations color might offer. It is the painting that rejects comfort for essence, prefers the lyrism of necessity to the exquisite of excess, the difficulty of the cerebral to the hedonistic tradition of the coloristic sensations. I don't think it would be far fetched to claim that, this painting can recollect from our collective subconcious archetype dipoles, such as:
light-dark, day-night, beggining-end, good-evil, and, in the end, life-death. Beyond its atistic merits, the true importance of this exhibition, I think, lies in precisely this subconcious reference to what is essential, original, and in final analysis, true. It pleads to our basic instincts that compose our own psyche and the way we perceive the world. Of course, under no circumstances the magnitude of this exhibition should prevent us from seeing what is really important; it is about a proposal that testifies an alternative of significant artistic valor, worth and content. The lack of color does not, by any means, equal to weakness of expression, whereas it constitutes a conscious choice, in order to dillute the artistic expression of great artists. It only takes a glance at the unsettling humanism of Jean Rustin's drawings, the academic perfection of Andrea Martinelli, Uta Siebert's visionary atmosphere or the accessible monumentality of Vassilis Poulios and the touching attention to detail by Aspasia Krystalla, but also the rest of the artists whose works are hosted in the museum's premises, in order to comprehend the fact that one stands in front of works full of dynamic and effective illustration. After all, the extent of the exhibition attests to the severity and the thoroughness of this endeavor, to which the most righteous judge is, as always, the audience. CHRISTINA SOTIROPOULOU
FRANK AUERBACH_
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UNTITLED, 2001 χαρακτικό | etching 17 x 20 cm
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SAM SZAFRAN_ UNTITLED, 1998 χαρακτικό | etching 61 x 82 cm
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UNTITLED, 1998 χαρακτικό | etching 41 x 53 cm
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UNTITLED, 1998 χαρακτικό | etching 51 x 33 cm
JEAN RUSTIN_ UNTITLED, 1997, μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper, 32 x 24 cm
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UNTITLED, 1997, μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper, 32 x 24 cm
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UNTITLED, 1996, μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper, 32 x 24 cm
UNTITLED, 1996, μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper, 32 x 24 cm
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UNTITLED , 1996 μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper 32 x 24 cm
FRÉDÉRIC LÉGLISE_
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CHENXI AND ZIQIAO, 2011 μελάνι σε χαρτί | ink on paper 162 x 132 cm
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_DAVID HOCKNEY
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UNTITLED χαρακτικό | etching 60 x 45 cm
BERNARDÍ ROIG_
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UNTITLED, 2010 κάρβουνο σε χαρτί | charcoal on paper 35 x 25 cm
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PORTRAIT OF MUC, 2005 > κάρβουνο και γραφίτης σε καμβά | charcoal and graphite on canvas 143 x 143 cm
MARCIN MACIEJOWSKI_
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CAROLINA, 2006 λάδι σε καμβά | oil on canvas 50 x 63 cm
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MOUNTAIN MAN(GORAL), 2006 > λάδι σε καμβά | oil on canvas 150 x 120 cm
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ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ ΠΕΙΡΟΥΝΙΔΗΣ_
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BACKHEAD, 2007 μικτή τεχνική | mixed media 120 x 200 cm
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CHRYSSA, 2010 > μικτή τεχνική | mixed media 200 x 140 cm
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UTA SIEBERT_ TROPHÄE, 2007 μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper 50 x 70 cm
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BAUCHLADEN, 2007 μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper 50 x 70 cm
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FLUT, 2008 μολύβι σε χαρτί | pencil on paper 70 x 50 cm
ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΒΑΒΥΛΟΥΣΑΚΗΣ_
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DEAR HUNTER...II, 2008 λάδι σε καμβά | oil on canvas 75 x 60 cm
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DEAR HUNTER...I, 2008 > λάδι σε καμβά | oil on canvas 75 x 60 cm
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ΕΛΕΝΗ ΜΩΡΑΪΤΗ_
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UNTITLED, 1988 μελάνι σε χαρτί | ink on paper 34 x 50 cm
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_ΕΔΟΥΑΡΔΟΣ ΣΑΚΑΓΙΑΝ
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FLOWER SELLER AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS, 1994 κάρβουνο σε χαρτί | charcoal on paper 165 x 95 cm
ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ ΒΑΡΕΛΑΣ_
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JAKE AND LOLA, 2003 κάρβουνο σε χαρτί | charcoal on paper 186 x 98 cm
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UNTITLED, 2002 > μικτή τεχνική | mixed media 250 x 200 cm