I, Me, Myself
Curated by Eleni Kypraiou |Nees Morfes Gallery
The exhibition was organized in the framework of the CCA programme “Galleries in our area”
24th May – 15th August 2003
Artspace “8”, 8 Chimaras Str., Rethymno
On Saturday 24th May, Rethymno Centre for Contemporary Art opened in Artspace “8”, at 8, Chimaras street, the exhibition titled I, Me, Myself curated by Eleni Kypraiou. The exhibition was held in the framework of the programme Galleries in our area. As part of this programme, one art gallery from Greece or abroad, which the Centre hosts in its premises, is presented each year.
The invitation was addressed two years ago to the members of the Hellenic Art Galleries Association through its Board, for each gallery to propose the theme that best corresponded to its action and presence. Rethymno Centre for Contemporary Art started this programme with Nees Morfes Gallery.
The exhibition I, Me, Myself followed the portrait of the artist, from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, measuring the limits of self-sarcasm, narcissism or the mental state of the artist himself who observes, records or invents, even differentiates his work, when the model is himself.
The exhibition included 100 works from museums and private collections as well as from the artists themselves, permanent collaborators of the gallery and more.
The exhibition, which was accompanied by a bilingual catalogue, ran until the 15th of August. Asalways, guidedtoursandeducationalprogrammes were held.
The exhibition
It is a time installation set up at Rethymno Centre for Contemporary Art. It was not a deliberate wandering in the past but rather choices of the artists themselves who had approached the theme voluntarily, through a storm of ideas and proposals, without interventions and suggestions, regardless of time, timing and currents.
The rationale
“We all play theater when we look in the bathroom mirror”, where the real right matches to the unreal left. So it is all just a forgery, because in art history, from what I remember, only Rembrandt has made a self-portrait that looks directlyat the viewer, no physical reflection, and that is why, when looking at paintings, we think we have real people in front of us and we can feel what they feel.
Self-portraits, when they are not theatrical or burlesque, are serious. Everything is aimed at eternity. The artist is concerned about the essence.
With or without small details, serene or flattering, they give us the impression that they are natural and at the same time distant and unaffected by time.
Self-portrait never seems boring or empty, it expresses what Socrates calls the “function of the soul”, it captures the special character of physiognomy, reflecting the function of the individual soul.
Even if the artist is small-minded, he somehow manages to copy himself with no feelings of unworthiness, because through his figure he actually conveys his awe at the beauty of art.
The artist must leave something to the imagination of the viewer. If the figure is not precise, if it is simulated with constructions, surroundings or videos, if the physiognomy is rendered with deviations – whatever the case may be – the intangible flesh and the spirit are saved.
On the other hand, as convincing and impressive as the portraits may be, we feel that they can only show one side of a complex human. After all, even the Mona Lisa could not be smilingall the time.
The exhibition was held in cooperation with art galleries, collectors and artists. The following artists took part in this exhibition:
Nikos Alexiou, Nikos Angelidis, Frixos Aristefs, Asadour Baharian, Manolis Bitsakis, Chronis Botsoglou, Giorgos Bouzianis, Pantelis Chandris, Nikos Charalambidis, Nikos Chouliaras, Gioula Chatzigeorgiou, Nikos Chatzikyriakos-Gkikas, Celia Daskopoulou, Ilias Dekoulatos, Thomas Fanourakis, Thaleia Flora-Karavia, Giorgos Gounaropoulos, Titsa Graikou, Michalis Kallimopoulos, Lefteris Kanakakis, Nikos Kessanlis, Sofia Kosmaoglou, Alexandra Kotzamani, Vasilis Kypraios, Florika Kyriakopoulou, Despo Magkoni, Michalis Madenis, Konstantinos Maleas, Tasos Mantzavinos, Koula Maragkopoulou, Despoina Meimaroglou, Miltos Michailidis, Giannis Moralis, Kyriakos Mortarakos, Kostas Paniaras, Periklis Pantazis, Giannis Papagiannis, Angelos Papadimitriou, Maria Papadimitriou, Lyda Papakonstantinou, Spyros Papaloukas, Dimitris Perdikidis, Spyridoula Politi, Mantalina Psoma, Lampros Psyrrakis, Ioanna Ralli, Polykleitos Regkos, Iakovos Rizos, Georgios Roilos, Giorgos Rorris, Loukas Samaras, Panagiotis Tetsis, Thodoros, Makis Theofylaktopoulos, Eleni Theofylaktou, Giannis Tsarouchis, Giorgos Vakirtzis, Giannis Valavanidis, Spyros Vasileiou, Spyros Vikatos, Mimis Vitsoris, Periklis Vyzantios, Takis Zerdevas, Nikos Zoumpoulis.
