The group exhibition under the title Known, Unknown, Anonymous and On Death Row combines artists who have been widely recognized and engaged in the art scene with artists who have not yet been known or they will never be as they were not part of the art market. Since in our society the constant demonstration of biographical “databases” has been increased and the formation of a positive reputation becomes a lifetime struggle, it is mostly common that looking at someone’s name in an art exhibition could affect our judgment upon the actual work. Despite the nature of the art-piece a name carries all sorts of information and holds a dynamic by-itself, which is something that artists like Marcel Duchamp (pseudonym Rrose Selavy 1921), Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg (Erased de Kooning, 1953) have dealt with different ways in the past.

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The essential incentive of the exhibition is to free the art-piece from its creator in order to be considered an artwork as such. Therefore, the medley between known, unknown and anonymous creates a “disinterested” and detached interaction between the spectator and the artist. What plays a central role is the instant reaction of the viewer to justify the art rather than the displayed labeling. Symbolically, the works are presented as if they form a horizontal “rhizomatic” shape devoid from a hierarchical structure that entails an origin, thus enhances a priori knowledge.   

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Moreover, human portraits are depicted through the medium of painting and photography, which stands as a common thread between the artists. Among the known and unknown artists in the exhibition are: Giuseppe Caccavale, Ellie Coates, Celia Daskopoulou, David Gates, Louise Lawler, Alekos Lorentis, Apostolos Michailides, David Mathis, Adrian Piper, Ugo Rondinone, Malick Sidibé, Tabakopoulos and Foundoulis, Rosemarie Trockel, Karen Yasinski. A number of works by anonymous artists are also included in the show.

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From a wider perspective this show rises up questions that involve the ways in which we look at art. A core issue that brings us back to the philosophy of Aesthetics that has been discussed and analyzed over decades through philosophers, critics and artists.

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