Russian "landing" in Thessaloniki
Olga Sella, Kathimerini, 26.09.2009
It was a tour of modern and older buildings of Thessaloniki and, simultaneously, a journey to the world of
modern Russia's contemporary art that managed to reach Thessaloniki.
The project Moscow-Thessaloniki-2009.
Works from the collection of the Stella Art Foundation presents modern works of Russian artists that are spread
across various city museums and institutions. The program was arranged by the Stella Art Foundation in collaboration
with artBΟΧ and is an element of the
parallel program of the Second Thessaloniki Contemporary Art Biennale.
Three stops
The first stop in our tour of the
city: Thessaloniki Archeological Museum that hosts an exhibition of works from
Alexander Djikia's series Variations on
the Theme of Cretan-Mycenaean Seals. The artist had studied the mysterious
ancient seals and reflected their imagery in his works, giving his own reading
to their themes. "It's something like translation," the artist
explained to Kathimerini's correspondent.
On the miniature pictures, set next to amber decorations and other permanent
exhibits of the city's archeological museum, we saw figures of animals and
people in perpetual movement – something that could well serve as ancient comic
strips.
The second stop: Warehouse No. 1
in the city port, with the Making Words
performance, a combination of visual art and poetry. The performance was
interrupted by a torrential rain, and the discussion that was scheduled didn't
find its way.
The third stop in our tour was
Kapandjis Villa, one of the few old seignorial houses surviving in Thessaloniki
that has been housing the Thessaloniki Cultural Center of the National Bank's
Educational Foundation for about twenty years. This luxurious building will
have on view until November 1 part of works from the collection of the Stella
Art Foundation, some of which were already displayed in Vienna, at the 52nd
and 53rd Venice Biennales and documenta 12 in Kassel. The
exhibition, arranged by curator Thalea Stefanidou, was given the title Subjective Visions.
In the small and bigger halls of the Kapandjis Villa we were able to
delve into the themes inspiring the present-day Russian visual art. The show
reveals all the complexities of the historical development of the country in
the 20th century, the moods of sadness and anger are balanced with
tenderness literally on the razor's edge (in this sense, silver prints by
Robert Mapplethorpe, showing flowers and knives in absolute symmetry, are quite
typical), and modern technologies are broadly used to supplement in original
ways the traditional methods of
visual rendering of reality. The viewers leaving the building and the MIET
Cultural Center were obviously trying to organize the interesting works seen
there in some classification.
The modern Russian art has left its trace – this time, an indelible one
– at the Thessaloniki Port. It is the sculptural composition by Haim Sokol To All Those Who Once Lived Here,
donated by the Stella Art Foundation to the city and the Thessaloniki Port
Authority.
These days, Thessaloniki has on view one of many contradictory aspects
of life of contemporary Russia.
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