Tag Archive for: exhibition

Recently I saw that there was an open call for a local photography contest. The subject was one of Thessaloniki’s oldest buildings, called Bensousan Han (about 200 years old).  It used to be a han, think of it as a bed-and-breakfast, only you could bring your horse too. Recently the building has been given a new life as a cultural space, where many of the city’s events take place. I first visited some years ago to see a theatrical play and instantly fell in love, wishing I could someday make a photoshoot there.

So, when I read about the contest, I jumped with excitement! Photographers were invited to participate in the contest by organizing a half-hour photoshoot anywhere inside the building. Each photographer could submit one picture to the contest. All the pictures will be exhibited inside the building on December 14th, when the names of the winners will also be announced. 

I spent a couple of days trying to come up with an idea that could be easily executed in half an hour but also be relevant to the buildings character as much as possible. I asked Katerina, who is an actress I played with during my theater days, to come model for me and she excitedly said yes. So, on the day of the photoshoot we met a bit early to discuss the idea and talk about my photoshoot process, so we could make the most out of those precious thirty minutes. 

dreams expand
dreams expand

Katerina really rose to the occasion and immediately got into character and nailed her pose (she is a great actress after all), so my job was fairly easy. My original idea changed as I started to shoot and I decided to go with what made more sense in terms of mood and colour. 

I spent quite some time editing it and of course I would have loved it if I had another thirty minutes for the shoot, but on the other hand I enjoyed the challenge and the opportunity. I even had about five minutes get a couple more shots with Katerina, just for fun! 

I am really looking forward to the exhibition! 

UPDATE: I am so honoured that my photo won the first place! A big thank you to the jurors for picking me and to the sponsors for their nice gifts!

It has been a long time without anything new from me! Well, there is something exciting going on. I will be showing some of my work in Cheapart, during the 81st International Fair of Thessaloniki which takes place between 10-18 September 2016. More than 70 artists participate with art that is available for purchase at low prices. It is my first time participating and I am excited to see how it goes, given that there will be thousands of people visiting the Fair. If you happen to be here, make sure you stop by and say hi!

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Quick update! Tomorrow is the opening of the 2d Influence Festival, held at Karditsa, where I have the honour of participating! The festival will feature artists from Video Art, Photography, Comics, Animation, Graphic &Web Design, Music, Painting, Sculpture, Installation Art, Street Art, Performance and many more. Sadly I am unable to attend, but I am sure it is going to be fantastic! So if by any chance you happen to be around, don’t forget to make a visit and of course let me know how it was!

influence festival

 

This week I am participating in my first gallery show. Meet the artist 5-Springtime is a gathering of artists from nearly all kinds of art. For the fifth time Myro Gallery called artists to participate and chose 24 of them to take part in a show that aims in giving the artists the opportunity to meet their audience and discuss their art. From 26 to 28 March the gallery will host works of art including painting, sculpture, installations, photography and other.

I am very honoured and extremely excited to be selected as a participant! If you are anywhere around Thessaloniki, I would be happy to meet you!

meet the artist 5

Here is the press release (in greek):

Meet the Artist 5 -Springtime | Πανδαισία τεχνών για 3 μέρες στην Myrό Gallery

H Myrό Gallery (Νικηφόρου Φωκά 8, κέντρο Θεσσαλονίκης) σας προσκαλεί να την επισκεφτείτε Πέμπτη, Παρασκευή και Σάββατο (26, 27, και 28 Μαρτίου 2015, ώρες 12.00 – 22.00) για να δείτε και να συμμετέχετε στο 5ο Meet the Artist, μια αδιαμεσολάβητη έκθεση καλλιτεχνών, στην διάρκεια της οποίας οι καλλιτέχνες βρίσκονται συνεχώς στην γκαλερί, εκκινούν και συμμετέχουν σε συζητήσεις γύρω από το καλλιτεχνικό έργο και μιλούν απευθείας με το κοινό. Το project θα εγκαινιαστεί την Πέμπτη 26 Μαρτίου 2015 στις 20.00, ενώ επισημαίνεται ότι την δεύτερη μέρα του (Παρασκευή 27 Μαρτίου), μετά τις 4 το απόγευμα και μέχρι το κλείσιμο, θα λάβει χώρα σειρά workshops και επιδείξεων διαφόρων τεχνών και τεχνικών.

Πιο συγκεκριμένα, στο “Meet the Artist -Springtime” παρουσιάζονται συνολικά 24 καλλιτέχνες, ενώ περισσότεροι από τους μισούς είναι νέοι εικαστικοί, πτυχιούχοι των σχολών της χώρας μας, που μέσω του project επέλεξαν να δοκιμάσουν την εμπειρία της έκθεσης προς το φιλότεχνο κοινό με στόχο τον δημιουργικό διάλογο και την επικοινωνία. Παράλληλα, στην έκθεση συμμετέχουν εγκαθιδρυμένοι καλλιτέχνες από όλη την Ελλάδα. Συνολικά συμμετέχουν οι: Κατερίνα Αλαβέρα, Ιωάννης Αστερίου, Βίκη Βασιλείου, Λάζαρος Γερομιχάλης, Αργυρώ Γιαννακάρα, Δημήτριος Γουγόπουλος, Γεωργία Γρηγοριάδου, Καλλιόπη Ζερβουλάκου, Ξυλοβάτης (κατά κόσμον Γιάννης Καλιεντζίδης), Μανώλης Καραγιαννούδης, Ηλίας Καρακόλης, Φώτης Κλογέρης, Γιούλη Μάντζου, Αλέξανδρος Μουδιώτης, Νίκη Πάνου (Nicki Upstairs), Δημήτριος Πετρόπουλος, Αναστασία Τρυγούτη, Βενετία Υφαντίδου, Φωτεινή Χαμηδιελή, Αντώνης Χαριζάνης, και η ομάδα καλλιτεχνών lestartists που θα έρθει ειδικά για το project από την Χαλκίδα, αποτελούμενη από τους: Τάκη Βερβέρη, Αργυρώ Γιαννακάρα, και Τάσο Μιχαηλίδη.

Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι οι καλλιτέχνες επελέγησαν μέσα από μια διαδικασία πρόσκλησης ενδιαφέροντος και εν συνεχεία έγκρισης, ανάμεσα σε 100 περίπου καλλιτέχνες από κάθε είδος τέχνης. Στην έκθεση υπάρχουν έργα φωτογραφίας, ζωγραφικής, γλυπτικής, χαρακτικής, κεραμικής, καθώς επίσης κατασκευές & εγκαταστάσεις.

Την δεύτερη ημέρα, 27 Μαρτίου 2015 στις 16.00 το απόγευμα ξεκινά πλούσιο πρόγραμμα με παράλληλες εκδηλώσεις, οι οποίες περιλαμβάνουν:
– μία επίδειξη speed sketching από τον ζωγράφο Χάρη Μητρούση, στις 18.00
– ένα workshop για την κατασκευή κοσμήματος από τον γνωστό σχεδιαστή & εικαστικό Γιώργο Ηλιάδη, στις 19.00
– ένα workshop για την Mail Art, ένα ανερχόμενο είδος τέχνης, από την χαράκτρια Γεωργία Γρηγοριάδου, στις 20.00

Τον συντονισμό και την επιμέλεια της έκθεσης έχει ο Πάρης Καπράλος, Επιμελητής και Καλλιτεχνικός Διευθυντής της Myrό Gallery.

Σχετικά με το περιεχόμενο των εκδηλώσεων, τα βιογραφικά των καλλιτεχνών και φωτογραφίες χαρακτηριστικών έργων τους, όπως επίσης και φωτογραφίες από τα εγκαίνια, δείτε στην ιστοσελίδα της Myrό Gallery www.myro.gr.

Just a quick update to let you know that my “foundation” series will be exhibited during the 6th Anakata festival, which will take place in Thessaloniki from the 12th until the 14th of September. “Foundation” is an ongoing series of images aiming to explore how we relate to ourselves. You can view the images online in this recent feature by GetInspiredMagazine http://ow.ly/BevW7
No more details about the festival have been published yet, but I will keep you posted!

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I guess I’m on a roll these days! Couldn’t be happier! 🙂

 

A few days before my summer holidays started, I decided to submit my photos to some art festivals, hoping that I might have a chance to show my work. After all, taking part in an exhibition was one of my goals for this year, so I had to pursue it at some point. One of those submissions was the chocolate themed contest that I already talked about. By chance I happened upon the Kythera Photographic Encounters that had made a call for artists to submit their work for the 13th Young Greek Photographers exhibition. Apparently this is an event that has been held every year since 2002, but this was the first I heard about it. I decided to submit my portfolio, although I did not have high hopes for this.

I was wrong. A few days later I received a phone call informing me that some of my images were selected for the exhibition! My excitement was beyond words! I thought I didn’t have a chance, I almost didn’t submit and I was completely wrong! That proved to me that you should never say no to an opportunity, however slim you think your chances are. If I had decided that I was not good enough to submit, this would never have happened.

Kythera Photographic Encounters 2014

Kythera Photographic Encounters 2014

The event includes many photographic exhibitions and even a convention about photography in Greece, so it is going to be really interesting to attend! It will take place from the 25th until the 28th of September and one of the seven photographers participating in the Young Greek Photographers exhibition will be given an award and the opportunity to have a solo exhibition next year. Wow! For me this is a big win, even if I am not awarded, it is such a great honour and an amazing opportunity which I am very grateful for.

Happy autumn everyone! I’m back from my summer holidays and athough most people feel depressed this time of year – you know rainy days, going back to work/school – I find myself feeling full of excitement and positivity. It helps that I had some amazing news regarding my photography during the past few weeks.

I created this to enter a competition held by the Photography Center of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the Chocolate Factory and Museum that is opening its gates shortly in Thessaloniki. The theme was of course chocolate, which proved to be very difficult for me. I wanted to create an image that would fit my style and at the same time include chocolate somehow. I only had about five days for planning, shooting and editing, so I also had to keep it simple. I have to admit my head almost exploded from trying to come up with something suitable for me. If you look at my portfolio, you will probably understand why.

After rejecting a lot of ideas due to lack of time or suitable props, I finally decided to do my take on one of Magritte’s paintings, “the magician”. I tried to recreate the painting replacing the foods with chocolate and cookies and of course milk instead of wine! Magritte is probably my favorite artist of all times, I absolutely adore his works and I was fortunate enough to admire some of them when I visited Brussels a couple of years ago. He is a constant inspiration, so I thought why not pay my tribute to him in this way?

the magician, by Rene Magritte

the magician, by Rene Magritte

Last night I found out that the picture made it and will be displayed inside Thessaloniki’s chocolate factory from September 6th until March! This is the first time one of my images is part of an exhibition so I am enormously excited and proud! Also I feel very strange that so many people will be looking at my work, not to mention that I am clearly very recognizable in this picture!
Please follow my facebook page to stay up to date with all my news, because I have even more exciting things to share with you really soon!