Ioannis Koliopoulos’ first solo exhibition titled Roots & The Collective Memories. Following two previous presentations of his work during group shows in the gallery, Ioannis Koliopoulos is now presenting two units from his new work. The first is a series of collage works on paper and the second a sculptural installation.

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The series of collages Collect & Collective Memory (2013) is created using material from the artist’s  significant personal collection of photography, found post cards and miscellaneous stereotypical imagery  (for example taken from encyclopedias and manuals)  that comment on different groups of people.

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The artist uses the technique of collage to create poetic meeting points between commonplace imagery.  Sometimes in order to comment on the conflict between the natural and the cultural history of man and at other times to attempt the blurring of the line between personal recollection and the collective memory.

 

Different techniques of artificial weathering of the images are used like perforation, burning or shredding, sometimes bringing the image to the brink of total destruction. The purpose of this is a symbolic imitation of the ways that mentally recorded images are worn out or otherwise altered in the human mind with the passing of time or the occurrence of great change.

 

The unit Roots is comprised of 44 individual small scale parts which can also be viewed as a single installation with fluctuating form. The materials used consist of stones, rock formations, stone-like debris of human construction, pieces of pottery and photographs. The actual process of collecting this material, the searching and the wandering are emphasized as an indispensable part of the artistic procedure .

 

During this systematic collecting of stones and imagery a dialogue between the found material is initiated. In this way the form of the sculptures that are created is the consequence of the concepts and the symbolism that emerge through the joining or juxtaposing of different elements. The artist’s ultimate goal is to comment on the current sociopolitical situation and its values.

 

Ioannis Koliopoulos (born in Athens 1986) graduated from Athens School of Fine Arts in 2010. Selected group shows include Marriage, Qbox 2013; XV BIENNALE DE LA MEDITERRANEE, Symbiosis?, Thessaloniki, Rome Casablanca 2011; Art on the Front Page, Benaki Museum, Athens 2008 and a two person show Nekyia, Qbox 2011 (in collaboration with Paola Palavidi).

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