Despina Meimaroglou
Thy neighbour
Curated by: Alexandra Koroxenidis

Duration:
21 September - 21 December 2002



The Rethymno Centre for Contemporary Art (today's Contemporary Art Museum of Crete), operating with the financial support of the Municipality of Rethymno and the Ministry of Culture within the framework of the Visual Arts Network - Cultural Territory, presented the exhibition entitled “Thy Neighbour” showcasing the artworks of Despina Meimaroglou. The artworks came from the Portalakis Collection and the exhibition was sponsored by “Z. G. Portalakis S.A. – Brokerage Firm”.

The exhibition included Meimaroglou's most prominent works from the 1990's until the time the exhibition was held, and expressed her long-standing concern about the various forms of violence arising from social inequality, gender stereotypes, the imperatives of consumer society and the mass media.

Meimaroglou seeks to approach reality and during this process she unfolds various stages that overlap it. She demonstrates how the representation (mainly by the press and television) distorts reality and how the incidents themselves are subject to different interpretations depending on how they are depicted.

Choosing the technique and medium is of particular importance in understanding Meimaroglou's work. The artist uses primary material from television or the press which she reproduces and distorts using media such as photography, lithography and printing. At the same time, she enlarges, paints or fragments these images to achieve the desired visual effect.

Despina Meimaroglou is considered to be a watcher of society having a strictly political perspective. The broad scope of her references shifts as the news changes. Risk-taking and perseverance drive her artistic work whilst her personal goal is to transcribe contemporary events and stimulate our thinking.

The artist is interested in media and techniques that allow for the transformation of the image. Most of her images have undergone many alterations from their original form.

The process begins by gathering images (usually from the press or television) and all kinds of documents that record whatever the artist perceives as some type of violence. Meimaroglou then processes or rearranges these images in a way that, either deconstructs the information and reveals how it is presented or adds more pieces of information in order to evoke more associations and suggest new interpretations. Throughout this process, her aim remains to reveal the meanings obscured by the fabricated reality and, at the same time, to demonstrate the infinite possibilities of image making and the range of new meanings that emerge from it.

Her constant involvement in social and political issues places Meimaroglou in a school of thought of politically conscious art, especially that of the political activism of the 1960's and 1970's. She is concerned with whether art can convey a political message without attempting to aestheticise its content, the challenging and radical role of the artist and the ideological transmission through art.

The exhibition was held by the Rethymno Centre for Contemporary Art and was part of the annual exhibitions that the Portalakis Collection presents in Crete. Moreover, it was curated by Alexandra Koroxenidis.

The opening took place on Friday, 20 September 2002 at 8 pm at the premises of the “L. Kanakakis” Municipal Gallery and the exhibition ran until 21 December 2002.

The exhibition was complemented by a bilingual catalogue (Greek - English) featuring texts by Zacharias Portalakis, Maria Marangou, Alexandra Koroxenidis, Helen C. Frederick and Leonard Lehrer. During its course, organised tours and programmes in schools took place.