34 contemporary visual artists are inspired by their favorite vinyl
Opening: Saturday, February 15, 20:00-23:30
Exhibition Duration: 15-2-2020 until 8-3-2020
The online platform, To Pikap Community – Αrt in Thessaloniki, for the first time, travels and presents to the Athenian audience a live and interactive project in actual space. 34 artworks of the most recent visual production of the city form the core of the exhibition entitled Visual meets Vinyl that will be on show from February 15 to March 8, 2020, at the venue of Τhe Project Gallery.
In the past decades, many exhibitions have been organized under the theme of multifaceted character of vinyl records and their relation to visual arts: from the early age of vinyl production at the end of the 1940’s, to the end of the 1960s that due to technological developments formed the peak period of its performance, through the early 1980’s, the period of its decadence, and until its recent commercial reappearance. Vinyl Records have influenced to a great extend the artistic oeuvre of both renowned and young artists who, in many occasions, have placed them at the center of their artistic creation.
Renown visual artists have created the covers of the most successful music productions: in 1955 Salvador Dali for Jackie Gleason, in 1967 Andy Warhol for Velvet Underground, in 1983 Keith Haring for David Bowie, in 1984 Jean-Michel Basquiat for The Offs, in 2003 Robert Rauschenberg for the Talking Heads, in 2011 Banksy for the Blur, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have collaborated with Damien Hirst etc. In parallel, contemporary exhibitions highlighted the connection between visual artists and musicians. Mainly in the 1960s, pop and rock music performers collaborated closely with visual artists in the creation of the most subversive, radical and avant-garde covers while at the same time, young, underground musicians are recognized not only for the quality of their music but also for the exquisite visual creation that comes with it.
In contrast to the above practice, the exhibition Visual meets vinyl focuses on artistic creations that, have been materialized through the study of a specific Record Album cover, of its music content and the artistic profile of the musician. 34 artists choose among their favorite vinyl-records and are inspired from them in order to create new artwork using multiple of expressive mediums: painting, photography, installation, drawing, itching, sculpture and video. The exhibition aims to introduce to a wider audience the recent artistic production together with the musical and visual source of inspiration behind each artwork and also highlight the current contemporary art scene of Thessaloniki.
Participating artists:
Zefi Athanasopoulou Christiana Aliente Dimitris Ameladiotis Maria Andrikopoulou
Aggelos Damis Lampros Asimakis Nikos Varitimiadis Stephania Veldemiri Maria Vozali
Ania Vouloudi Maria GalazoulamTomas Diafas Yiorgos Drosos Elena Efeoglou Ano Theodoroglou Iordanis Kalimerakis Dimitris Karlaftopoulos Despina Konstantinou Thomas Lioutas Valia Lolidou Giorgos Mihalopoulos Zisis Bliatkas Fani Boudouroglou Alexia Xafopoulou Yorgos Papakarmezis Alexandros Plomaritis Zografia Popoli Thanasis Sabaziotis Filippos Tatakis Maria Tsagkari Marina Tsakalou Stefanos Tsakiris Giorgos Chatziagorou Christos Venetis
Curators: Dimitris Aggelis, art director of “To Pikap Community” in collaboration with Domna Gounari, art-curator of exhibitions and performances of contemporary art.
Contributors:
“To Pikap” is a multi-purpose facility located at the general Roman Forum area, at the centre of Thessaloniki, Greece, 57 Olympou Str. Our activities include, among others, the managing of a radio station, a record store, a book store, an art space called “The Room”, a cafe-bar with daily dj sets, a record label, plus two online platforms regarding the visual artists and the musicians of Thessaloniki: “To Pikap Community” & “To Pikap The Scene”. Music, vinyl records and visual arts hold a special place in the field of To Pikap’s interests.
“To Pikap Community – Art In Thessaloniki”. This is an attempt to assemble and present the visual artistic creation of the city of Thessaloniki. We created an online platform which includes visual artists who live and work in the city. Each entry consists of information, sample of works, external links and any further elements, each artist considers helpful to publicize in order to show and present hers/his personal progress and work.
The Project Gallery is an innovative art space located in Athens at Monastiraki area, at 3 Normanou Street. We focus on thematic group exhibitions, highlighting current international art production but our curated program spans the full spectrum of contemporary art, from talks and open discussions to live acts and performances.
We aim to be part of the cultural life of Athens, discover and present the local visual art scene, while through international collaborations and cultural exchanges to create bridges between Greece and abroad for the promotion and diffusion of Greek art globally.
Our creative team brings together and generates young architects, graphic designers, curators and art historians who are involved in the visual arts field, embracing contemporary art. We focus on emerging, original, high quality and alternative artworks, while maintaining respectful towards artists, the public and the art world. We aspire to communicate, motivate and grant a crucial meaning to Art, as an alternative attitude to everyday life during these critical times.
An Environmental comment on endangered species (gerenuk) signals to stop their habitat destruction - Praise nature's splendor (psalm 103). All inspired by the music piece "deer" of Swod's album Sekunden
