Blending reality with possibilities at Xippas
Reaching the Xippas Gallery is no easy matter. The venue is located on Sophocleous Street, near Pireos Street, an area where you automatically lock your car and hope for a green light. Nevertheless, the recent opening of the gallery’s new group show «Pragmatikotites kai Pithanonites» (Realities and Possibilities) makes a trip there worth the effort. Despite the fact that the 11 participating artists sent out different messages, they all had something in common. Until December 20, Giorgis Gerolymbos, Christina Dimitriadi, Petros Efstathiadis, Panos Kokkinias, Evangelia Kranioti, Dimitra Lazaridou, Nikos Markou, Vassilis Polychronakis, Giorgos Prinos, Dimitris Tsoublekas and Petros Chrisostomou will be telling their own stories and presenting contemporary photographic art on white walls. The exhibition has been curated by Alexandra Moschovi. But what lies behind photographs that bear titles such as «Margherita,» «Urania» and «Whispering Words of Love»? Giorgis Gerolymbos set up his own pre-election fest, with two different works featuring the flags of the two main political parties and green and blue crowds. Nikos Markou chose to see the city from up above and to reveal all of its contrasts, its ugliness and its reality. His night shot from behind the Evangelismos hospital was more appealing. Panos Kokkinias set his leading and secondary characters in the Athens metro and showed what can be done with a pair of yellow plastic gloves. Giorgos Prinos opted for darkness, with his colored and melancholy images depicting adventures at nighttime. Petros Efstathiadis created an outdoor studio, using as his models a soldier, a «wonder boy,» a man with apples and a girl with a birthday cake. Evangelia Kranioti photographed a girl with two short pigtails wearing a ballet costume. Vassilis Polychronakis captured «Michael» lying on a kitchen bench, smoking, «Sirine» in a hotel room and «Margherita» with her back turned to a dish of pasta and ketchup. Christina Dimitriadi defied gravity and created white images with a twist. Dimitra Lazaridou got inside people’s minds, even heard their thoughts and whispered words of love. Dimitris Tsoublekas unraveled a series of childhood photographs from a family album, revealing a small, wonderful world. Petros Chrisostomou built a giant wig-shaped sculpture inside a living room, next to some huge eggs, an allusion to lost youth. «Realities and Possibilities» is on display at the Xippas Gallery (53D Sophocleous, tel 210.331.9333) through December 20 and runs noon to 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, as well as noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
