exhibition works

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition at Kalfayan Galleries brings together a selection of contemporary artists from diverse backgrounds and nationalities that have relied on the expressive qualities of the color blue to evoke a sense of mystery, a sense of calm or even the endless void of space as in the work of Bouchra Khalili, winner of the Abraaj Group Prize of 2014.

Inspired by the traditional blue and white porcelain vases of China, the multi-disciplinary artist and winner of the Abraaj Group Prize in 2012, the artist Raed Yassin, is showing works from his series titled “Yassin Dynasty”, which is a project derivative from the work “China” (2012) that was made possible with the support of the Abraaj Group Art Prize. “Yassin Dynasty” is based on the Chinese manufacturing process of mass-production in relation to disposable war memories and the fact that historically such works were produced under each Empire’s Dynasty in China. The surfaces of the vases are covered with images taken from the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990).

Working with the rich qualities of the color, Alexis Akrithakis evokes the intensity of the blue sea while David Hockney uses blue lines to create shimmering effects in a swimming pool. Conjuring images of travel, a photograph of Stratos Kalafatis from his photographic series “Archipelagos” which was first presented in 2006 in the context of the Greek participation in the 10th Venice Biennale of Architecture in the exhibition, “The Dispersed Urbanity of the Aegean Archipelago” / The Aegean: A Scattered City – Faces of the Islands” will also be featured in the show.

Matteo Montani, Yiannis Moralis and Michael Michaeldes use various shades of the color to produce expressive abstract compositions that stimulate the viewer’s vision.

Through different media, the show activates the uses of blue, bringing out its evocative qualities, and the tactile and perceptual sensations that it can create. The viewer is invited to explore the different connotations and suggestions that the color blue can trigger.

Exhibiting artists: Alexis Akrithakis, John Craxton, Jim Dine, Yiannis Gaitis, Aikaterini Gegisian, Barbara Hepworth, David Hockney, Stratos Kalafatis, Bouchra Khalili, Michael Michaeledes, Matteo Montani, Yiannis Moralis, Nina Papaconstantinou, Dimitris Tataris, Pae White and Raed Yassin