Petra Matuskova, an artist from the Czech Republic, currently in Residency with the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture, will be presenting her Exhibition entitled “Metamorphic Kefalonia” at the center, between June 1st-10th.
Artist Statement
My project is about connecting “Metamorphialism” (my method of creation) and components, attributes and symbols which are characteristic, specific and unmistakeable for certain country, its culture and history, in this case Kefalonia/Greece. I am going to present my idea through sculptures and drawings.
The process of understanding one’s anatomy and the experience of soul and genealogy of place involve a prying apart of the self to uncover the ever resonating essence of personal identity and biological genealogy. In this week-long workshop we will encounter parts of our Self through interaction with the natural environment of Kefalonia. Through holistic movement explorations based on the Holistic Gymnastics Ehrenfried method, as well as Butoh dance practice, participants will ponder questions and notions pertaining to belonging and root-identity, and articulate response through collective and individual creation and choreography to uncover and inform the relationships between the body and self, place, identity and belonging. The use of these two methods suggests the shape-shifting and somatic potentials that will come together and accrue specific meaning for all participating.
Ehrenfried Holistic Gymnastics is a movement approach bringing equilibrium via the intelligence of the body. It is based on simple movements, verbally suggested by the practitioner, encouraging proprioception and personal awareness. In turn, this exploration of movement enables the participant with musculoskeletal agility, aiding the body to liberate itself of automatisms and habits which can be a source of tension, pain, and compression. The repertoire of movements encourages active rest, joint alignment, mobility & muscle toning, all the while rhythmic breathing guiding the way movements are executed. Gradually, the internal organs regulate from the effects of rhythmic breathing; behaviour modifying itself in tandem with changes in physical habits giving way to the joy of movement and discovery of self. Butoh is a form of dance theatre originating in Japan out of the post-World War II era, partly as opposition to America’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as in protest of Western materialism. Butoh work calls on the body’s work, its changing conditions through stillness and physicality, and linking one to the essential and raw experiences of physical and spiritual states.
The workshop will take place at the Ionion Center for Arts and Culture from July 23-31, 2012.
Every day: 9h-14h.
Maximum participants: 12
This workshop will be given in English.
Fee for the 8 day atelier 450 euros (due by day 2 of the workshop)
Day 8 will involve a site specific public performance.
The site and time is to be determined as we evolve as a group.
1 day drop-in participation is permitted exclusively on July 23rd. Cost is 75 euros.
Open to all. Please forward your name and contact information with a short bio and why you are interested in doing this workshop.
For furthers inquiries please contact the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture here.
The Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture is proud to present the Personal Exhibition by artist Costas Evangelatos, titled “Conceptual Variations”. Opening on Wednesday, May 16th 2012, 20:30.
About the Artist
COSTAS EVANGELATOS
Artist and art theorist
Costas Evangelatos was born in Argostoli Cefalonia-Greece ( Nov.1957).
He studied law at National University of Athens, painting and aesthetic theory of modern art in Manhattan N.Y (University The New School). From 1986 until 1993 he was the artistic director of the DADA Gallery in Athens, and in 1990 founded the modern art group ART STUDIO “EST”.
Along with painting, has worked internationally in the fields of Performance, Body Art, Happening and Mail art. He has presented sections of his works in solo exhibitions in Athens, Rochester, New York City, Thessaloniki, Arezzo, Avignon, Chantilly, Paris, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Nicosia, etc.
He has participated in many group exhibitions and international artistic meetings in Paris, Barcelona, Warsaw, Gothenburg, Amiens, Rome, Moscow, Santiago, Buenos – Aires, New York, Los Angeles, etc. They have been published also books of him, aesthetic essays, poems in seven editions (“Apopeira” editions, Athens), lithographic works : bodygraphics (dada art gallery, Athens and BOA Editions N.Y), Conceptualizations, (galerie “F”), art books, calendars, poetry collections, etc.
He has lectured on art issues in Greece and abroad. He is member of scientific and artistic organizations and a senior member of the Greece’s Chamber of Fine Arts(1991).
His works are in collections of art, as in the Art Institute of the Central Bank of Greece, the “Museum of the City of Athens”, the Gallery of the Art History Museum in the National University of Athens, the –Macedonian Fine Art Union, the Gallery of the Macedonian Studies Society, the Municipal Gallery of Athens, the American College of Greece (ACG ART COLLECTION), the Photographic Archive of the Benaki Museum, the headquarters of the Greek Army Navy , the Art Foundation of Archbishop Makarios in Nicosia, the collection of Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Corfu Reading Society, the Ionian University in Corfu, the Municipal Gallery of Corfu, the Greek Embassy in Paris-France, the Greek and the Cypriot Consulate in Paris, the University FORDHAM at Lincoln Center, New York , as well as in foundations and many private collections in Greece, France and U.S.A.
Τechnoetic Telos An International Research Conference in the Planetary Collegium’s Consciousness Reframed Series convened by the Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture, Kefalonia, Greece.
ICAC (Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture) in cooperation with the Planetary Collegium at the University of Plymouth, England, is hosting a conference in the series of Consciousness Reframed International Research Conferences, with the title of “TECHNOETIC TELOS: Art, Myth and Media”.
The conference will take place at Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture (ICAC) on the Island of Kefalonia, Greece, from April 30 to May 2, 2012.
"Carousel" photos of outdoors sculpture by Autumn Ahn.
Autumn Patricia Ahn Exhibition: Obliged Nostro
Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture
19th-28th October, 2011
The Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture is pleased to announce the Autumn Patricia Ahn Exhibition, titled “Obliged Nostro”. Opening at the Center on October 19th, 20:00. A reception will follow the Opening. The Exhibition will remain open until October 28th – visiting hours 10:oo-13:oo, Monday-Friday.
In Autumn’s words:
“Obliged, Nostro.
Where does myth end and history begin? Our dreams become memories and only a retelling of our stories provide guidance in these modern times. The insular atmosphere of the island lifestyle avoids the global influx of rapid machine-oriented communication. The island’s lineage has always been known to wander to see what the world can offer and I have found that, true to their Homeric past, many Kefalonians come back home.
The works reference the existence and evolution of traditions and images that have survived passing generations. These clues are in the language, in signage, exchanges in conversation, in attire, in demographic, new roads, new land concerns, political exchange, etc. I question how those symbols of culture exist today and whether the context has altered its meaning.
Kefalonia is a place where nostalgia is alive. I came here to experience a different culture and through temporary immersion I can relate to the way of life here only through symbolism. The compressed experience is reflected in my work. My work is a culmination of documentation transforming events in the present into decorative vehicles for reflecting upon the past.”
"Carousel" photos from the 4 sides of Ahn's outdoor sculptural installation
Autumn Patricia Ahn, Exhibition and Workshop Announcement
Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture
September – October 2011
Autumn Patricia Ahn is an artist from Boston, MA, USA. She focuses on creating large-scale installations that utilize the architecture and localized narratives of a site. Her environments are often seen as shrines commemorating the influence of the communities surrounding her immediate physical site. Drawing on influences from her cultural immersion in Kefalonia as well as her study of theocratic societies–past, present, and future, she will create a site-specific “shrine” for the Ionian Center for Arts & Culture, aiming to communicate with the viewers through the narrative visual language often found in religious and ritualistic contexts. The installation will be on view & open to the public while it is in progress (on select days) and for the two-day workshop.
Ahn will instruct a class in making a traditional non-glue stitch binding book, using a technique called the “Long Stitch”. From beginning to end, the process will be instructed based on time, counting, and continual motion.
