Art Links 2015 - 3 Exhibiting Artists Share Their Creative Inner-Worlds

  • by XpatAthens
  • Monday, 22 June 2015
Art Links 2015 - 3 Exhibiting Artists Share Their Creative Inner-Worlds Art. It’s one of the most joyful and enduring connections between our childhood and adult selves. As children, we paint, draw and shape in order to express our desires, pre-occupations, dreams and fears. Even as adults, we cannot help but echo our truest inner worlds through the art we create.

That’s why Art Links Wishes 2015 (opening on Tuesday June 23 at 8pm at Gallery 7 in Kolonaki until July 3) is such a special collaboration. Art Links Wishes is a group art exhibition that showcases drawing, painting, photography and sculpture, donated by dozens of remarkable Greek and international artists, for the cause of Make-A-Wish Greece (Κάνε-Μια-Ευχή Ελλάδος). Proceeds from the sale of the diverse artworks will help illuminate the lives of seriously-ill children here in Greece through a precious moment of happiness.

‘As with all previous Art Links events, Art Links Wishes 2015 aspires to unite our community through creativity and art,’ says Art Links general manager Sia Corrina Durocher.

Here, three of the event’s exhibiting Greek artists share their own creative inner-worlds with Xpat Athens readers:

MARIA HAJIANDREOU
Hajiandreou was born in Rethymnon, Crete, and studied at the Athens School of Fine Art, where she graduated with first-class Honors. She has participated in many group exhibitions in Greece and abroad, and has given solo exhibitions at Gallery Ora, Gallery Apopsi, Gallery Dimito, Gallery Mylogianni Chania, Gallery 7 and the Cretan Museum of Modern Art, among others.

What is the most enjoyable part of the artistic process for you?
MH: That single moment when you discover that your painting shall produce something of true beauty; something that will keep your energy at full tilt right until its completion.

Which theme or themes do you most often return to in your work? (And why?)
MH:I find myself returning to the human figure, and more specifically, the female figure. Over the years, I’ve worked in still life. My last exhibition consisted entirely of still life drawings. Before that I was fascinated by the gardens and enormous green houses of Scotland. But I always come home to the human figure. My current project has the female figure as its main theme.

What do you wish you had known when you were first starting out?
MH: I wish I’d known how to present myself to the people in the art world better back then.

What is your own personal definition of “success” as an artist?
MH: Success means having evoked emotion in the viewer. The deeper they are moved, the greater you have succeeded.

Which gallery or curator would you most love to come knocking at your door?
MH: If someone from a private gallery in Barcelona or London specialising infigurative painting came knocking, well, that would be very nice.

Finally, what does living a creative life mean to you?
MH:It’s the alpha and omega! If I’m not creating, I’m not living.

ANGELIKI MAKRIS
Piraeus-born Makris studied graphic arts at the Athenian Doxiadis Institute and later continued her studies in the United States and Scotland. She has worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for various newspapers and children's books and has also written books
for children. Her sculptures and paintings have been exhibited in group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. She has held twelve personal exhibitions.

What is the most enjoyable part of the artistic process for you?
AM: I often get angry at what is happening around me and so practicing my art becomes my personal "harbor", my safe haven. In order to create, I first have to empty myself of all the negative emotions and to become a child again, hopeful and carefree. If you cannot change the world, then change yourself. That is my motto.

Which theme or themes do you most often return to in your work? (And why?)
AM: A clearly recurring theme in my work is that of women who exercise, women who flirt, women who get angry. Like an actor, I go through emotional states, through my sculptures, without even realizing it. Moreover, I like cats and seals and other animals as well. There is, however, a common denominator across all these forms: the curve.

What do you wish you had known when you were first starting out?
AM: Self-knowledge. One cannot have too much of it, and the earlier the better. I also wish I were more daring in proposing ideas.

What is your own personal definition of “success” as an artist?
AM: Success, to me, is twofold. Firstly, you have to keep faith in your creative activity and, secondly, you have to be able to convince significant art venues to feature your artworks.

What has been the biggest “highpoint” so far in your art journey?
AM: A milestone in my career-path has been my solo exhibition at the "Zalokosta 7" gallery space, the first time I exhibited my work. 

Which gallery or curator would you most love to come knocking at your door?
AM: I am really fond of large-scale exhibitions, public spaces, and, also, art publications. In essence, I am looking to communicate via my work and I am keen to establish a connection with all those who become moved by my art.

Finally, what does living a creative life mean to you?
AM: It takes dedication, isolation, persistence, and self-organization in order to express yourself through art. Art provides me with self-confidence and with the opportunity to become a better person through strengthening elements that give me joy and through avoiding elements that do not.

KONSTANTINOS MASSOS
Massos was born in Athens where he still lives and works as a primary school teacher. In 2014, he graduated from the Athens School of Fine Arts (painting) and his works can be found in private collections across Greece.
What is the most enjoyable part of the artistic process for you?
KM: When after a lot of effort and investigation, the artwork gathers shape and form in terms of the “place” of action, the “heroes” and their feelings.

Which theme or themes do you most often return to in your work? (And why?)
KM: The central theme of my work is the man and the “place” both within him and outside of himself.

What do you wish you had known when you were first starting out?
KM: I have learned to trust and believe in the value of the route that helps me to locate the “new thing or theme” – but which results from a prior knowledge.

What is your own personal definition of “success” as an artist?
KM: I consider successful the artist who manages via his artwork to communicate his feelings and is willing to express everything which takes place around him.

Which gallery or curator would you most love to come knocking at your door?
KM: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and curators like Hans Urlich Obrist and Klaus Biesenbach.

Finally, what does living a creative life mean to you?
KM: Joy, communication, constant searching.

Participating artists are:
Chloe Akrithaki, Daphhne Angelidou, Marie Baha, Maria Chrysohoidou, Evi Feofanidou, Maria Filippakopoulou, George Hadoulis, Vassiliki Haloridi, Maria Hatziandreou, Anastasia Karvela, Nikos Kaskouras, Theophilos Katsipanos, Aggeliki Kokonaki, Mersa Konstopoulou, Giannis Kontaratos, Athina Latinopoulou, Kostas Lavdas, Aggeliki Makri, Konstantinos Mantzaris, Alexia Marouli, Konstantinos Massos, Eleni Mihailou, Tassos Missouras, Kleopatra Moursela, Afrodite Papadouli, Marina Papalabridi, ZachariasPapantoniou,Charikleia Papapostolou, Eleni Pehlivani, Elianna Prokopiou, Miltos Psaros, Chrys Roboras, Peter C. Seibit, Vasilis Skopelitis, Pigi Spyratou, Matina Stavropoulou, Fotini Stefanidi, Nota Tsitoura, Angelika Vaxevanidou

Gallery 7 is at Solonos 20 and Boukourestiou, Kolonaki.)

Story and interviews by: Amanda Dardanis