From Patras to Naxos we are traveling by the Art of Life Collective, which consists of six members, five female graduates of the Visual Arts department of the AUTH and the art curator, a graduate of the Master’s degree in the Art Management department of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
The group is active in the artistic field, in the form of an Urban Non-Profit Company since 2022.
“You are the eyes through which Creation knows itself”
It has 2 visual exhibitions in its potential, in the context of a single artistic project. The 1st exhibition took place at the European Cultural Center of Delphi, entitled “You are the eyes through which Creation knows itself”, in June 2022 and the 2nd at the Telloglio Arts Foundation, entitled “Love Bridgemaker”, in October of 2023.
This time, in the middle of September, near the Autumnal Equinox, the artistic group Art of Life Collective presents the visual exhibition “Fleeting and Eternal”, at the Cultural Center of Naxos – former Ursuline School. Five female artists are inspired by the Cycladic Light, sketching the course of a route that unites past, present and future.
Fleeting and Eternal
Nature, consciousness and life are in a constant state of change, which simultaneously contains the elements of decay and evolution. Through this theme, the artists reflect on the eternal mystical relationship between life and death.
The purpose of the exhibition is to open a dialogue on what is “the End and the Beginning”, visualizing its meaning
rebirth.
The team has been working for 3 years on the concepts of “Love – Death – Creation”. The first year of the collective project was dedicated to the theme of Creation, with the exhibition “You are the eyes through which Creation Knows Itself”, at the Cultural Center of Delphi in June 2022. The second year saw the exhibition “Love
Bridge Builder”, on the concept of Spiritual Love, at the Telloglio Arts Institute in Thessaloniki in October 2023. This year, in the third chapter, we deal with death and rebirth, in the present exhibition, “Fleeting and Eternal” in the heart of the Cyclades.
The joint searches, the lives of two of the members of the group, who live permanently in Naxos and the dynamics of the place, contributed to the development of the present topic, which connects the collective memory of the island with the study of the group. On the occasion of the story, the artists meet and talk about the myth of Persephone’s daughter who unites the two worlds.
They incorporate in their work the archetype of the Daughter, as a soul and reciprocate with Mother Earth, Goddess Demeter.
In the Myth, the Soul-Daughter unites the Upper and Underworlds, through a Love Contract. It moves between the immaterial and the material. Its descent and ascent is a symbol of change and transformation. From the visible to the invisible – from the unmanifest to the manifested world, death in one realm is birth in another. On the one hand is the aspect of love and
abundance of Mother-Nature Demeter and on the other hand, the intangible wealth and fertilization of the spiritual seed of Pluto.
In the course of a research that aims to broaden our understanding of the subject, the following questions are asked: What does mortality and immortality mean for today’s man? How do we approach a look of fearlessness towards the only certain and inevitable? The artists meet in a common assumption: that through the perishable body subject to
time, the Soul longs for the experience of the eternal.
The works of the exhibition travel the gaze over different materials and textures, such as the light inside the Naxos marble, the reflection of the colored glass, the otherworldly lightness in the pictorial representation of a solid rock. A metal tama as a symbol of sacrifice, an auspicious flame at the center of a dystopia, a sensitive gaze in a portrait and a fleeting comet. All the elements tell a timeless myth that unfolds with human life and is always contemporary. A myth that brings us closer to an aspect of life whose usefulness is invaluable but usually forgotten. It introduces us to the hidden Nature of death and rebirth following a theme based on the revelation of Beauty that honors the full spectrum of life.
Artists: Irini Apsychou, Alexia Grammenidou, Alkisti Panagiotopoulou, Frederiki Papastauropoulou, Marcy Syregela
Diligence: Lila Nikolaou, Irini Apsychou
Parallel events:
On 9/23 at 12:00 in the morning, the Art of Life Collective invites the public to a meditative experience under the sound of the bendir, in the exhibition space.
On 25/9 at 19:00 the musician Nikos Mavridis will present a solo violin concert at the Catholic Cathedral located adjacent to the Cultural Center.
Event details:
Date: From: 18/09/2024 To: 29/09/2024
Opening: Wednesday 18 September 2024, at 19:00
Hours of Operation: 11:00-19:00 Daily | Sunday, September 22 closed
Location:
Naxos Cultural Center – former Ursuline School, 1st floor, Naxos Town
#exhibition #Fleeting #Eternal
