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JANUARY - FEBROUARY 2016 The bimonthly electronic journal of the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation
EDITORIAL TEAM
Georgia Alevizaki, Paraskevi Gerolymatou, Andreas Georgiadis, Maria Koutsomallis, Alexandra Papakostopoulou, Kleio Panourgias, Irene Stratis Designed and edited by
Τ + 30 210 - 72 52 896 www.moca-andros.gr | www.goulandris.gr
CONTENTS
IN PLACE OF A PROLOGUE
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By Kyriakos Koutsomallis, Director of the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation
iNTERVIEW
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with cultural director of Greek National Opera, Mr Myron Michaelidis
RECENT NEWS
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Scholarships announcements for the 2016-2017 academic year
I N S I D E T H E F O U N D AT I O N ' S P E R M A N E N T C O L L E C T I O N
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Panayiotis Tetsis
FORMER BEGF SCHOLARS
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Georgia Lale
I N T E R N AT I O N A L L I S T I N G S / C U LT U R E A list of major art shows around the world
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I N P L A C E O F A P R O LO G U E
On occasion of the 15th digital publication of our bimonthly newsletter with we which we communicate with our friends and keep them informed about the Foundation’s activities we would like to express our most heartfelt wishes for the New Year. Good health above all and the best for each of us. In this issue we are very pleased to publish an extremely interesting interview with Mr Myron Michailidis, the commendable and capable director of the Greek National Opera shortly before its relocation to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Faliro which is currently under construction. From here Greek Lyric Theatre will continue its work, using the comforts offered by the state-of-the-art facilities, developing activities which will highlight its position as equivalent to the great theatres of Europe. The small, masterly oil painting by the great artist Panagiotis Tetsis is a donation by the distinguished painter to the Foundation. It is a small work which, however, offers great visual pleasure. We are publishing it as a small token of our gratitude and warmest thanks for his multiple donations that adorn the Foundation’s collection. Georgia Lale belongs to the chorea of our scholars who are distinguishing themselves both in Greece and abroad. From New York, where she lives, she gave the published interview. The performance in which she is participating is of particular interest since its subject, the refugee crisis, is extremely timely and appropriate. Recently published in the Athenian press is the 32nd programme of post-graduate scholarships announced every year by the Foundation. The scholarships are offered for subjects relating to all categories of Art. The subjects for the Academic Year 20162017 are: 1. Intellectual Property 2. Interior Architecture, Decoration and Design 3. Cinematography. Thank you for your interest. With true feelings of affection. Kyriakos Koutsomallis Director
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INTERVIEW W I T H C U LT U R A L D I R E C TO R O F G R E E K N AT I O N A L O P E R A
MYRON MICHAELIDIS
Culture is the most powerful tool for growth and social cohesion for a country. 7
Rehearsal of the work Tristan and Isolde. Ann Petersen, Torsten Kerl, Katarina Dalayman © Stefanos
Despite the fact that in recent years there was a prevalent feeling that no matter what, the Greeks would never embrace opera, you managed to create the conditions that have reversed this. How was this achieved? At the Greek National Opera we believe that the ‘Greek’s difficult relationship with opera’ is simply a cliché that was cultivated over recent years as a symptom of the crisis of values experienced by the country as a whole. In our strategic planning, we always moved based on the assumption that Greek audiences love opera and have established a powerful relationship with it throughout the 20th and in the first years of the 21st century. In recent years, one of our main aims was to reverse the cliché that opera is addressed to select audiences with special knowledge and specific social characteristics. We believe that opera is a magical art form addressed to all. Bearing all this in mind, we decided to place particular emphasis on the GNO’s extroversion and opening it out to a broad audience. The combination of high aesthetic productions of opera, operetta, ballet with artistic activities outside the traditional settings of the GNO, have resulted in a new form of communication with audiences and the spectacular change of the image of the organisation which is now fully established in our audiences’ conscience as ‘our Opera’. I am sure you agree that matters connected to art and culture are of paramount importance to education. What policies and initiatives characterise the GNO’s educational role?
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INTERVIEW
Rehearsal of the work Tristan and Isolde. Ann Petersen, Torsten Kerl, Katarina Dalayman © Stefanos
Education is the foundation of everything and, unfortunately, it is lack of education that is responsible for the biggest problems faced by the modern world. At the GNO we view education, in the narrow and in a broader sense, as our most important role. With regards to professional training, the GNO as you know, runs the School of Dance which prepares the dancers of tomorrow, the Athens Opera Studio, which offers training to young opera singers and the Children’s’ Choir which, since 2012 has offered over 200 children the
Greek’s difficult relationship with opera is simply a cliché that was cultivated over recent years as a symptom of the crisis of values experienced by the country as a whole
opportunity to experience a magical educational activity through participation in some of our theatrical productions. Our educational programmes are offered to pupils throughout the country and their aim is to use innovative teaching methods to promote the art of opera. Our major educational programme ‘interactive opera for primary schools’ has travelled over the last few years to dozens of primary schools throughout Greece and has managed to create a newfound artistic and educational experience for thousands of pupils. Moreover, we are currently planning an action plan for the educational programmes that will be hosted in the GNO’s new premises at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.
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The Murderess, opera by Giorgos Koumendakis, based on the novel by A. Papadiamantis. © Vassilis Makris
Truth be told, without national productions it will be very difficult for opera to have a voice and develop. What is going on? Are works being written these days that select this type of expression within the performing arts? Can they co-exist with international developments and how? We are happy because the aspect of contemporary creation is one of the GNO’s major achievements in recent years. The opera The Murderess by Giorgos Koumendakis, based on the masterpiece by Papadiamantis, but also the ballet Journey to Eternity by Eleni Karaindrou and Renato Zanella are two wonderful examples that prove that contemporary Greek creativity is present in opera and, more importantly, that audiences follow it with a passion. Advanced discussions on the presentation of these works abroad, are a sign that they can also claim a place in international dramaturgy. Arte Povera and opera are, at first glance, incompatible values. Can ‘a lot be done with very little?’ We believe that artistic inspiration and care for its realization are more important than a massive budget for the creation of an artistic work (specifically an opera, operetta or ballet production). Of course, an opera production must have a budget but, within the framework of a difficult financial situation, all expenditure for our productions is placed under though scrutiny without this ever affecting our high artistic and aesthetic standards.
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INTERVIEW
Journey to Eternity, National Opera Ballet, by Eleni Karaindrou and Renato Zanella. Š Stefanos
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INTERVIEW
I Pagliacci, the Suitcase Opera. © Vassilis Makris
You recently stated that ‘I believe it is indubitable that culture is the most powerful tool for growth and social cohesion for a country’. In the light of recent developments doesn’t this sound like an over-optimistic outlook? You will allow me to support this opinion even more so. This is not the opinion of an artist who lives outside reality but an opinion based on financial and social data. If culture is given the attention it deserves, results will be impressive for the economy, for society, for growth and for tourism. Talk to us about ‘The Suitcase Opera’ This is the crowning glory of our artistic production, the flagship of our extroversion. It is an opera production using a piano instead of an orchestra, with the GNO’s singers and stage props that can fit into… a suitcase! Our decision was to create opera productions that can be presented in small spaces throughout Greece. Our aim is to move opera outside the theatre and present it in unexpected venues such as museums, cultural centres, libraries, etc. Since 2011 we have presented La Traviata, La Boheme, Don Giovanni, Carmen and I Pagliacci. Our performances have travelled to every corner of Greece, have been attended by thousands with the support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and, from this year, with sponsorship by Eurobank.
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Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, mechanism of the central stage. © Yiorgis Yerolympos
Let us assume that Greece’s internal problems disappeared by magic. How do you imagine the Greek National Opera playing a central role in the country’s artistic and cultural life in five years’ time? Our vision for the GNO is for it to grow in the best possible way into its new facilities at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, to create important productions for the central stage with a capacity of 1200, to perform great educational and social actions from the 400-seater Alternative Stage, to bring even more young people in contact with Opera, become an equal interlocutor with even more Operas in Europe and beyond, to become the home and creative hub for even more artist and, above all, to be able to present the magic of art to all Greeks and visitors to the country, unhindered.
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INTERVIEW
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, mechanism of the central stage. Š Yiorgis Yerolympos
The GNO is preparing for the great leap, its move to the brand-new complex in Faliro. How prepared are you and how prepared is the audience to accept and embrace this effort? The GNO is ready for the transfer and we believe that the State will support this historic transition to the new building. We are also confident that our audience will support this new era for the GNO. What are your personal creative challenges over the following period? I am trying to achieve a balance between my artistic and administrative role. The progression and development of the GNO is a never-ending challenge for all of us in the organisation. For me personally, the move to the SNFCC creates particular joy and excitements while I am also trying to respond in the best possible way to my commitments as a conductor both in Greece and abroad.
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RECENT NEWS
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SCHOLARSHIPS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE 2016-2017 ACADEMIC YEAR IN MEMORY OF BASIL and ELISE GOULANDRIS and PANTELIS P. KARADONTIS The Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation has announced the thirtysecond successive programme of scholarships for post-graduate studies abroad in the following sectors: 1. Intellectual Property 2. Interior Architecture, Decoration and Design 3. Cinematography For more information please call 210 72.52.896 during working days (Monday-Friday) and times (09:00-17:00) or visit the Foundation’s website www.goulandris.gr Deadline for submission of applications and all relevant paperwork: 29th February 2016 (address: 6, P. Aravantinou str., 106 74 Athens).
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I N S I D E T H E F O U N D AT I O N ' S PERMANENT COLLECTION
Panayiotis Tetsis (b. 1925)
Untitled, oil on board, 49.3 x 34.9 cm
[…] Tetsis’ painting is a ritual of colour; a chromatic elegy. He is “possessed by colour”, as Klee used to say of himself. In collaboration with light, colour structures the painting’s surface where what is ritualistically realized is not a mere depiction, but rather a reformulation and aesthetic transformation of the subject of this visual quest. Both in terms of its natural, immediate denotations, and in terms of its symbolic connotations, colour becomes an autonomous pictorial value. But it does not always follow the “mental equation”, as the artist himself calls it: that is, the sea is not necessarily to be identified with blue and its various shades. Such shades will be replaced at times by dark colours that go as far as black; by olive and pale grey tones that go all the way to green. It depends on how the artist views the object of his work at any given moment. Marked alterations in colour help record impressions through the interplay of colour and light, placing perspective outside the immediate field of vision. […] He wants to regard himself as a painter inspired by the gaze and acting upon his very inspiration; as a painter of the senses and not of the conceptual, dematerializing theorem. He paints using colour with avid greed for the sheer pleasure of painting. He wishes for colour and drawing to become one and the same, for the medium to be animated by the spirit of a deeply thinking, deeply critical artist. […] Extract of Extract from text by Kyriakos Koutsomallis
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FORMER BEGF SCHOLARS
Georgia Lale BEGF scholar 2014-2015, in Sculpture.
What is #OrangeVest? #OrangeVest is a visual arts event, a performance that takes place in the public and internet sphere. The #OrangeVest performance takes place in New York, where I live, and its aim is to sensitise local and global public opinion about the refugee crisis happening in Europe over the past months. The work’s visual language is influenced by the refugees’ journey from the coast of Turkey towards the Greek islands. The performance is made up of a group of people, dressed in black - in memory of those who died and are still losing their lives on a daily basis as they attempt to cross the Aegean Sea. Over their clothes they wear an orange life vest which is the object that, above all, characterises this refugee crisis. An object that symbolises the hope for life and survival. We walk as a group through various busy public spaces (Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, United Nations) without speaking, without carrying banners, we don’t hand out leaflets, we are simply there. We are there to remind passers-by, New York’s tourists and citizens of what is happening on the other side of the Atlantic. #OrangeVest coexists between the public and internet space. Via Social Media the action meets a new audience, a global community that is informed, sensitised and becomes socially aware via the internet. Using popular platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, I created an information and action ground relating to the refugee crisis. Via these social media and the use of the HashTag (#), every internet user can find out about the latest developments on the refugee crisis in the Aegean and Europe via articles from trusted media sources (New York Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post) and follow the #OrangeVest actions.
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Finally, we must not forget that this is the first refugee crisis documented so broadly and on such a scale via the Social Media. I am assuming you believe that artists, via their work, should raise their voice on major social and political issues‌ Every member of society has the duty, as a political creature, to help society by any
means and in any way possible. Artists have the opportunity to create intense artistic images and awaken viewers’ emotions, via the beauty or rawness of their work. Emotional awakening is social work because it reminds us that we are human, we fear, we feel cold, we are hungry and we worry about the future. Emotions help us to identify with the pain of others, to become conscious that we have more commonalities to share than differences. They remind us that in 1922 we were in the place of the Syrians, frozen, soaked, afraid, and homeless, we had lost our families, our only luggage was our hope for a better future. Do other artists of your generation share this view? Could we say that the art of today or even of tomorrow has or is tending to form strong social and political peaks? We are a shocked generation. The conditions under which we grew up have not prepared us for the reality with which we are being faced today. Unemployment, economic crisis, loans, repossessions, capital controls, etc. As a generation we were late to mature and now we are being called upon to survive in a not so user-friendly environment. It has however already been proven, since the time of Picasso’ Guernica, that the most important works of art are created under the most difficult social, political and economic conditions. And they are important because they reflect the difficulties of the society from which they were born. Consciously or subconsciously artists always reflect society through their work because they live within it and from it.
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Based on your recent #OrangeVest experience have you identified some key communication hubs or characteristics which a work of art must have in order to open a meaningful dialogue with society? As I mentioned above, a work of art always contains social commentary, as the artist’s conscious or unconscious choice. There are three basic preconditions for the creation of a meaningful dialogue between a work of art and society. Firstly, society and the state must set the practical support for artists and their work as one of their aims. It is artistic works that reflects the culture of every society. Secondly, we must put behind us the logic that art is not for everyone and that if it was for everyone it wouldn’t be art. Access to quality art is every citizens’ right. And thirdly, as artists we must understand that there cannot be a dialogue between our work and society-viewers if our work is not accessible. An artwork that exists only in the artist’s studio is as if it never existed. Artworks need to be exhibited. Museums, Art Galleries and Festival are very good settings for the presentation of artworks. In our era however, artists need to take the presentation of their work into their own hands and the internet is here to serve. The internet is the largest social networking platform that has ever existed in the history of humanity. Artists who desire a meaningful dialogue with society must have an active internet presence. Is the so-called difficulty in reading art works or even their ambiguity a source of concern in the use of your artistic resources? For me, the difficulty in reading artworks and the ambiguity of their meaning are tools which help me attract the interest of the viewer and pose questions. This is something that often happens during the #OrangeVest activities. When the artist takes an artwork out into public spaces seeking an audience that is not familiar with forms of art such as performance or living sculpture, then the aim is to pose questions to that audience. For example, there were many people who asked us what we were doing while others asked about the action’s name on the internet and found out that way what it was all about.
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FORMER BEGF SCHOLARS
My aim is for the action to stay in the viewer’s mind alongside a large question mark. To pose questions. To invite him/her to research and discover its meaning. #OrangeVest also had, among others, a collective character. Do you believe it would be interesting for this experience to expand into other artistic initiatives and change this notion of the isolation (and all its connotations) we have about the visual artist? In my opinion the image of the lonely artist is a myth. The artist cannot exist or produce artworks without the help and support of a network of artists, technicians and supporters. Especially in our era, because of limited financial resources, artists tend to work more as groups, sharing studio space, exchanging skills and supporting each other. Are you concerned with the issue of a ‘new language’ which often monopolises the interest of young artists? I was honestly never concerned with the discovery of a ‘new language’. As I was taught by my teacher, Dimitris Alithinos, art will always express peoples’ concerns and fears around Birth, Love and Death. From thereon, every artist is a child of his/her era and as such will create his/her own visual language using the means offered by each era. With regards every artist’s authenticity and uniqueness, this is something that can never be questioned. I am not worried about producing a ‘new language’ because I know that my DNA is unique. I am unique, as is every creature on this planet, therefore the visual language that will be created through my work will also be new and unique; this is nature’s law. What is the object of your investigations these days? What I am investigating currently is how the artwork can coexist in the public space as social commentary while maintaining its aesthetic beauty and quality. Also, how the work itself can exist within the framework of an artistic establishment (museum, gallery), without losing its social and public character.
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INTERNATIONAL LISTINGS / CULTURE
L ondon
National Gallery: DELACROIX and the rise of Modern Art
L ondon
Tate Britain Frank Auerbach
This exhibition is a tribute to the most important representative of French Romanticism. British art and literature, real or imaginary journeys to North Africa, biblical scenes, human passions were all sources of inspiration. His paintings were dominated by scenes of violence and war, murder but also stories of love.
Born in 1931 in Berlin, the British artist focuses in his work on depictions of people and urban landscapes with a revolutionary brushstroke often compared to Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. This exhibition contains paintings and drawings from 1950 to the present.
L ondon
B russels
Duration of exhibition: 9/10/2015-13/3/2016 www.tate.org.uk
Duration of exhibition: 17/02 -26/05/2016 www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Royal Academy of Arts Painting the Modern Garden: ÎœÎżnet to Matisse
This exhibition introduces us to the world of gardens through the works of some of the most important Impressionist, post-Impressionist and avant-garde artists of the beginning of the twentieth century. For these artists, gardens offered them the freedom to explore new paths and the incessantly changing world around them. Duration of exhibition: 30/01 -20/04/2016 www.royalacademy.org.uk
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Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: From Floris to Rubens
The exhibition includes ninety drawings by Dutch artist of the 16th and 17th centuries from private collections; sketches, paintings, stained glass and tapestries as well as preparatory drawings by artists such as Frans Floris and Peter Paul Rubens, Hendrick Goltzius, Cornelis De Vos, Pieter Stevens and Adriaen Frans Boudewijns. Duration of exhibition: 20/1 -15/5/2016 www.fine-arts-museum.be
P aris
Grand Palais: Picassomania
P aris
Centre Pompidou Anselm Kiefer
This exhibition refers back to the most important milestones of his artistic course and those aspects of his personality that helped create the myth surrounding his name. His great stylistic phases and landmark works, are exhibited alongside works by more modern artists and are grouped per artist, or per subject, in a great variety of media and techniques.
Retrospective exhibition of the distinguished neo-expressionist German artist spanning the period from the end of the 1960s to this day – sixty paintings, installations, books – that focus on dramatic moments in the artist’s career, in an exhibition that bears his absolute seal of approval.
C openhagen
A msterdam
Duration of exhibition: 7/10/2015-29/2/2016 www.grandpalais.fr
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art: Eye attack - Op Art and Kinetic Art 1950-1970
Through a presentation of around 100 works and over40 artists including the Hungarian Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley from the UK, the exhibition focuses on the optical experimental studio and the synergy of all media and techniques. Duration of exhibition: 4/2-5/6/2016 en.louisiana.dk
Duration of exhibition: 16/12/2015-18/04/2016 www.centrepompidou.fr
Rijksmuseum: Breitner - Girl in kimono
The countless versions of Breitner’s composition ‘Girl in Kimono’ are the focus of this exhibition. The exhibition presents the full series of 14 works for the first time. Also on display are drawings, sketches and photographs. Duration of exhibition: 20/2 -22/5/2016 www.rijksmuseum.nl
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INTERNATIONAL LISTINGS / CULTURE
R ome
Ιl Complesso del Vittoriano Dal Musée d’Orsay IMPRESSIONISTI - Tête à tête
R ome
MAXXI: Transformers
An exhibition that revives the spirit of an era, a mural of French society during the flourishing of Impressionism. The selected works emphasise the innovative aspects of the movement and, at the same time, the notion of individual personality (Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Frédéric Bazille, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Auguste Rodin).
Jointly with audience participation, four ‘Transformers’ from different parts of the world create a vision. Passing through a suspended forest of 3,000 plastic sieves, listening to a melody produced by an orchestra of guns, sitting on a chair made of glass and cloth, travelling alone in the middle of the sea on a giant boa. These are some of the works by Choi Jeong-Hwa, Didier Fiuza Faustino, Μartino Gamper and Pedro Reyes, four “transformers” who are also artists, designers and activists.
R ome
M adrid
Duration of exhibition until: 7/2/2016 www.comunicareorganizzando.it
Museo of Ara Pacis Τoulouse Lautrec
The exhibition focuses on the last decade (1891-1900) of the artist’s career through 170 works from the Budapest Museum of Modern Art (posters, lithographs, book illustrations, music score covers, etc.). Duration of exhibition until: 7/2/2016 www.arapacis.it
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Duration of exhibition: until 28/3/2016 www.fondazionemaxxi.it
Prado museum: Ingres
In collaboration with the Louvre, this exhibition offers a precise chronological presentation of Ingres’ work with particular attention on his complex relationship with portraiture. Duration of exhibition: 24/11/2015–27/03/2016 www.museodelprado.es
S wit z erland Fondation Beyeler JEAN DUBUFFET
METAMORPHOSES OF LANDSCAPE In the first large-scale retrospective exhibition of Jean Dubuffet in Switzerland, the Fondation Beyerler presents the multifaceted foundations of his output through around 100 artworks. The exhibition is based on Dubuffet’s exciting idea that the landscape can be transformed, in his paintings, into a body, face or object.
H amburg
Bucerius Kunst Forum From Poussin to Monet
In the 17th century, French painting began setting new standards for Europe as a whole. This exhibition focuses on the influences brought about bey these social upheavals on art. Duration of exhibition: until 17/1/2016 www.buceriuskunstforum.de
Duration of exhibition: 31/1-8/5/2016 www.fondationbeyeler.ch
N ew Yor k
The Frick Collection Andrea del Sarto
From around 1515 until his death in 1530, Andrea del Sarto had the most productive period of his career at his studio in Florence. This exhibition brings together preparatory drawings and finished works and is the first large retrospective of the artist in the United States. Duration of exhibition until: 28/1/2016 www.frick.org
new y or k
ΜΟΜΑ: Picasso Sculpture
This exhibition focuses on the artist’s longstanding relationship with sculpture, with particular emphasis on the use of materials and techniques. Over 100 works, selected works on paper and photographs are exhibited for the first time after 50 years in the USA. Duration of exhibition: 14/9/2015-7/2/2016 www.moma.org
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