Shapes of Stories

On its ten year anniversary, The Blender Gallery is pleased to present a group show exhibition of contemporary ceramics artists, titled Shapes Of Stories.

On account of the enormous range of creative experiment, free expression and development that ceramic art offers and the fact that there is a continuously growing trend and emphasis on what is handmade, on quality and not so much mass and homogenized production, 15 contemporary ceramic artists are invited to create artworks that redefine the concept of ceramics and the use of materials, emphasizing how indelible it remains as an art form over the years, shaping our cultural heritage under the prism of a contemporary viewpoint.

Participating Artists Diane Alexandre, Maria Alexiou, Nikolas Athanasopoulos (Niklas), Maria Economides, Anna Karountzou, Panagiotis Lezes, Janet Lines, Alexandra Manousakis, Natalia Manta, Maru Meleniou, Angeliki Stamatakou, Philippos Theodorides, Irini Theodosi (irzzy), Yiorgos Trichas, Melina Xenaki

Diane Alexandre’s piece “με κλειστά μάτια” is an ensemble constituted of a black stoneware hand-build and carved mask with bronze details and white porcelain hand-build bird depicting the Minotaur who represents the entrapment of the self, the impossibility to move past a destructive pattern, the oblivious blindness of the heart. The artist states that « With closed eyes we refuse to see ourselves, but also we totally trust someone else. This piece is a song to love, the one that hurts and the one that saves” The work is hanging from the ceiling so the viewer can “wear” it and see for a while through the eyes of the artist.

For Maria Alexiou nature has always been a source of inspiration to her. For the exhibition, Alexiou works have been created after her study of the shape of mushrooms. Specifically, the artist says “The infinite forms and patterns that present themselves as well as their stories. Fungi shapes are in themselves a frozen frame of a dance that unfolds. Mushrooms are to be searched for, hidden and fragile. Underneath what we discover is a whole new world. An endless structure that is integral to the development of entire ecosystems” Her work is merely an ode to mushrooms.

The same goes for Angeliki Stamatakou who is inspired by the infinite beauty of nature and the reality of the society in which she exists. The Greek artist observes, investigates and understands how she, and the world, are evolving by expressing her personal aesthetic, angle and emotions through her sculptures. She combines her personal aesthetics with technical methods in order to redefine the vase in a modern, sculptural context.

Yiorgos Trichas’ work has references to his place of origin, Syros island that offers him a unique sense of freedom and a deep appreciation of art as an essential part of the quotidien. It reminds him of who he is and who he wants to be. It is there that he draws his inspiration from; the cycladic light streaming in through the shutters, the smell of bare earth, the pastel hues, the neoclassical architecture.

Anna Karountzou who is also inspired by her hometown, Oia Santorini, presents the collection “Stomata” meaning “mouths”, which are forms and figures that have movement and rhythm. Stomata consist of shapes and figures of motion and rhythm. All together in total, each one in a different tone, constitute a polyphonic ensemble, embracing one another and composing a song. Each piece is an autonomous chapter. A single note, a single sound. Her personal symphony. The artist chooses to work with earth-tone stoneware clay mixed with volcanic sand-gravel that she collected from Santorini. Pieces with memories from her summers. 

Panagiotis Lezes presents the installation titled Memento Mori, with ceramic anthropomorphic masks shouts in despair for something unknown to come. One of the most representative motifs, the skull, that also appears in the painting, crushed as an excavation find, converses with figures and masks, simulations of grave offerings that may replace or even be Fayum. All the masks are placed on the floor, the closest level to the soil, looking up at the sky and imploring the viewer to come to their senses while there is still time.

Natalia Manta presents the works VESSEL 1 & 2 which are part of a wider unit entitled Imaginary Landscapes in which she deals with the investigation of the mythological element. In this series she collects and uses symbols of world history and tradition thus creating an underground dialogue between the local and the universal element. Thus, the sculptures seem to emerge from imaginary worlds/places, where time can flow unorthodoxly with the present entangled with the past and imagination with reality.

Irini Theodosi (irzzy) with the artwork named “QUERNOS” (an ancient Greek vessel used in the Eleusinian Mysteries for the ritual sacrifice of food.) is inspired by the ancient Greek kernos, seen in a contemporary self-referential context. It remains, today, a ceramic cluster of vessels and cavities ready to receive offerings. The work is an abstract reference, as in a dream with symbolic unconscious shapes that represent concepts, memories, feelings and states. Theodosis’ artwork creates the sense of the body and of something transcendent, the presence of the sacred, the religious tradition, the transformation of the existential “I am” state.

Panagiotis Lezes presents the installation titled Memento Mori, with ceramic anthropomorphic masks shouts in despair for something unknown to come. One of the most representative motifs, the skull, that also appears in the painting, crushed as an excavation find, converses with figures and masks, simulations of grave offerings that may replace or even be Fayum. All the masks are placed on the floor, the closest level to the soil, looking up at the sky and imploring the viewer to come to their senses while there is still time.

Natalia Manta presents the works VESSEL 1 & 2 which are part of a wider unit entitled Imaginary Landscapes in which she deals with the investigation of the mythological element. In this series she collects and uses symbols of world history and tradition thus creating an underground dialogue between the local and the universal element. Thus, the sculptures seem to emerge from imaginary worlds/places, where time can flow unorthodoxly with the present entangled with the past and imagination with reality.

Irini Theodosi (irzzy) with the artwork named “QUERNOS” (an ancient Greek vessel used in the Eleusinian Mysteries for the ritual sacrifice of food.) is inspired by the ancient Greek kernos, seen in a contemporary self-referential context. It remains, today, a ceramic cluster of vessels and cavities ready to receive offerings. The work is an abstract reference, as in a dream with symbolic unconscious shapes that represent concepts, memories, feelings and states. Theodosis’ artwork creates the sense of the body and of something transcendent, the presence of the sacred, the religious tradition, the transformation of the existential “I am” state.