Flowers of Evil

Baudelaire “portrays” a world in transition, where the elements of tragedy, pessimism and despair, misery and pain, coexisted with melancholy, lyricism and a romantic-mystical disposition; it was a world in which the material coexisted with the intellectual, negation and rejection of reality with the imposition of the imagination, a feeling of happiness with death and the threat of a menacing, overwhelming and lasting catastrophe, the masculine and emblematic presence of Satan with the Revolution against God, beauty with ugliness, light and exoticism with darkness and shadows, the intensity of sexual desire and attraction with the sensual paths of sin and lust; this was a “damned”, degenerate but also immensely attractive world, an ambiguous and agitated world of passions and divisions, of torturous memories, indelible experiences and deep reflections, a world of escapism and abandonment, surrendered to alcohol, drugs and artificial paradises – the symbolic and riveting scene in a bewildering theater staging the adventures of life and existence, in direct analogy to fragile and complex emotional states and behaviors, in the course of revealing a cryptic message, of diving into and wandering through the unexplored and uncharted areas of the human psyche and condition.

With Les Fleurs du mal serving as both their starting and reference point, the works presented by the visual artists participating in this exhibition approach Baudelaire’s world not by depicting it, but rather by transliterating its power, intensity and fascination, in a way that is original and personal, suggestive and insightful, associating that world with contemporary realities.

Participating Artists:

Angelos Antonopoulos, Annita Argyroiliopoulou, Giorgos Alexandridis, Andreas Vais, Vasilis Vasilakakis, Babis Venetopoulos, Ioulia Ventikou, Maria Vozali, Andreas Voussouras, Nikos Giavropoulos, Leonidas Giannakopoulos, Kornelios Grammenos, Vasilis Zografos, Antigoni Kavvatha, Nikoletta Katsamperi, Aris Katsilakis, Theofilos Katsipanos, Christos Kountouras, Despina Konstantinou, Nikos Lagos, Afroditi Liti, Alexandros Maganiotis, Thanos Makris, Dimitris Merantzas, Christina Mitrentse, Lina Bebi, Xenofon Bitsikas, Emmanouil Bitsakis, Nikolas Bliatkas, Vally Nomidou, Laura Dodson, Lysimachos P., Maria Panagiotou, Nikos Papadimitriou, Antonis Papadopoulos, Konstantinos Patsios, Natassa Poulantza, Vasilis Poulios, Ifigenia Sdoukou, Stefania Strouza, Dimitris Tataris, Nikos Tranos, Theodora Tsiatsiou, Kostas Tsolis, Marios Fournaris, Kyriakos Chatzimichailidis, Pantelis Chandris, Yannis Psychopedis, Mantalina Psoma.

Curators:

Alexandros Maganiotis, in collaboration with Yannis Bolis.

An Opening Party will be held on the 2nd floor of Couleur Locale with DJ set from PHOTOHARRIE

Info:

The Project Gallery, 3 Normanou str. (inside the passage), at the 1st floor of the all-day-bar, Couleur Locale building.