7. Athens Biennale 2021
Eclipse
24 Sep - 28 Nov 2021
Billy Bultheel, Athens, Song I-IV, 2020-2021 (detail). Multidisciplinary Installation (performance, music, video, sculpture), 40'00''. Courtesy of the artist. Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale. With the support of the Flemish Fund and the Assistant Grant from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Emilios Haralambous.
Judy Chicago, Women and Smoke, California, 1971-1972, remastered 2016. Digital video, 14’45’’. Courtesy of the artist; Jessica Silverman, San Francisco; Salon 94, New York; and Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Emilios Haralambous.
Zuzanna Czebatul, Their New Power (Head), 2020. Sculpture, polyethylene, acrylic gypsum, pigments, sand, 150 x 240 x 170 cm. Courtesy of the artist. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos.
Simon Denny, Extractor. Game Night at the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Emilios Haralambous.
Christoph Draeger, Black September, 2003. Mixed media. Courtesy of the artist and Lokal 30, Warsaw. With the support of Prohelvetia. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Emilios Charalambous.
Claude Eigan, Inner Saboteur II, 2019. Sculpture. Wood, �tyrofoam, resin, plaster, spray paint, varnish, 140 x 50 x 100 cm. Courtesy of the artist. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos.
Awol Erizku, Asiatic Lilies, 2017. Digital photograph. Digital print on vinyl sticker. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Produced by the Athens Biennale. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Emilios Haralambous.
Doreen Garner, Known But To God: The Dug Up, Dissected, and Disposed for the Sake of Medicine, 2017. Glass, silicone, steel, epoxy putty, pearls, Swarovski crystals, whiskey, 30,48 x 20,32 x 20,32 cm. Courtesy of the artist and JTT, New York. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Nysos Vasilopoulos.
HellFun (Josefin Arnell & Max Göran), THE VACATION x EXTRA EXTENDED: The Road Journey, 2021. Three-channel video installation. Two benches, sand dunes, one banner. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artists. Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale. Installation view from the 7th Athens Biennale 2021 ECLIPSE. Photo: Emilios Charalambous.
The Athens Biennale announces its seventh edition, entitled ECLIPSE, co-curated by Omsk Social Club and Larry Ossei-Mensah under the artistic direction of Poka-Yio. ECLIPSE will take place from September 24 to November 28 (preview: September 23) in various locations in Athens. The exhibition will feature artists based in North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe, many of whom will be exhibiting in Greece for the first time. The exhibition title highlights the obscured perspective of reality caused by the constant state of flux we are experiencing in our society now. ECLIPSE engages the social, political and spiritual changes of today’s global construct and in Athens itself, as a rising metropolis located at the intersection of Europe, Asia and Africa both physically and historically. An eclipse is a phenomenon of filtering and shrouding as well as a cosmic event. The experience of the eclipse functions as a catalyst for reprocessing an unresolved past that can inform an unspoken present and ultimately shape our future. Thus, Athens serves as the appropriate vantage point for contemplating the nuances of time and space. Furthermore, examining the questions is the west in decline or in a moment of significant transformation?
ECLIPSE seeks to assess the implications of identity, history, and cultural complexity. The 7th Athens Biennale offers an arena to interrogate many of the ideas, queries, concerns, and desires that are frequently not platformed within a Biennial format. In an effort to activate a dynamic cross-cultural discourse, ECLIPSE will highlight the works of artists from the African Diaspora in addition to other artistic voices that have historically been pushed to the periphery. This engagement will be articulated through the use of a “Black Lens” as one of the frameworks. This approach seeks to engage the varying perspectives and artistic practices percolating within the African diaspora. This dialogue will be situated alongside a complimentary framework of artistic interventions that use dynamic manifestations to compose unique practical narratives. Their aim is to strategically address the viewers imagination of potential parallel worlds and futures. Composing a set of spaces that platform ideas such as radical care, interspecies friendship and sonic viewing strategies, ECLIPSE presents a translocal chapter of contemporary thought on how to co-exist within a world differently.
Defying the prevalent politics of historical narratives, ECLIPSE proposes to challenge oppressive mechanisms and outdated idealism. By deploying various immersive techniques such as real game play, radical gossip, persuasive realities, “emotional hypnosis”, bodying, synthesis, and visualization, ECLIPSE activates narrative fabrication and orchestrates an experiential shift in art viewing opening an alternative future for contemplation.
Artistic Director: Poka-Yio
Curators: Omsk Social Club, Larry Ossei-Mensah
Artists:
Abdu Ali + Markele Cullins
Manuel Arturo Abreu
Zebedee Armstrong
Sanford Biggers
Billy Bultheel
Judy Chicago
Contemporary And (C&)
Zuzanna Czebatul
Simon Denny
Detach (Voltnoi & Quetempo)
Alexandros Douras
Christoph Draeger
Claude Eigan
The Critics Company
Awol Erizku
Doreen Garner
Miles Greenberg
Happy New Tears
HellFun (Josefin Arnell & Max Göran)
Jack Hogan & Trakal
Klára Hosnedlová
Satch Hoyt
Huntrezz Janos
Deborah Joyce Holman & Yara Dulac Gisler
Hypercomf
Yinka Ilory
Astrit Ismaili
Tomashi Jackson
Olalekan Jeyifous
Evi Kalogiropoulou
Samson Kambalu
Lito Kattou
KAYA (Kerstin Brätsch & Debo Eilers)
Navine G. Khan-Dossos
Nuri Koerfer
Ndayé Kouagou
Aristeidis Lappas
Kris Lemsalu & Kyp Malone
Marissa Malik & Yeshe Bahamon-Beesley
Rodney McMillian
Steve McQueen
Tourmaline
Ana Mendieta
Moor Mother
Petros Moris
Zanele Muholi
The Mycological Twist
Nascent (Paul Seidler & Max Hampshire)
Zohra Opoku
Kayode Ojo
Omsk Social Club
Vasilis Papageorgiou
Nektarios Pappas
Primitive Art
Yorgos Prinos
Ebony G. Patterson
Kameelah Janan Rasheed
Andrew Roberts
Victoria Santa Cruz
Jacolby Satterwhite
Erica Scourti
Jonas Schoeneberg
Paul Mpagi Sepuya
Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Juana Subercaseaux
Valinia Svoronou
Taka Taka
Ayesha Tan-Jones
Theo Triantafylidis
Filippos Telesto
Hank Willis Thomas
Iris Touliatou
Suzanne Treister
Eugenia Vereli
Julian Weber
Wu Tsang
Yessi Perse
Cajsa Von Zeipel
The 7th Athens Biennale is co-financed by the Hellenic Republic and the European Union through the Regional Operational Programme of “Attica” in the framework of NSRF 2014-2020, performs under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and the City of Athens and is realised in partnership with Onassis Culture.
https://eclipse.athensbiennale.org
ECLIPSE seeks to assess the implications of identity, history, and cultural complexity. The 7th Athens Biennale offers an arena to interrogate many of the ideas, queries, concerns, and desires that are frequently not platformed within a Biennial format. In an effort to activate a dynamic cross-cultural discourse, ECLIPSE will highlight the works of artists from the African Diaspora in addition to other artistic voices that have historically been pushed to the periphery. This engagement will be articulated through the use of a “Black Lens” as one of the frameworks. This approach seeks to engage the varying perspectives and artistic practices percolating within the African diaspora. This dialogue will be situated alongside a complimentary framework of artistic interventions that use dynamic manifestations to compose unique practical narratives. Their aim is to strategically address the viewers imagination of potential parallel worlds and futures. Composing a set of spaces that platform ideas such as radical care, interspecies friendship and sonic viewing strategies, ECLIPSE presents a translocal chapter of contemporary thought on how to co-exist within a world differently.
Defying the prevalent politics of historical narratives, ECLIPSE proposes to challenge oppressive mechanisms and outdated idealism. By deploying various immersive techniques such as real game play, radical gossip, persuasive realities, “emotional hypnosis”, bodying, synthesis, and visualization, ECLIPSE activates narrative fabrication and orchestrates an experiential shift in art viewing opening an alternative future for contemplation.
Artistic Director: Poka-Yio
Curators: Omsk Social Club, Larry Ossei-Mensah
Artists:
Abdu Ali + Markele Cullins
Manuel Arturo Abreu
Zebedee Armstrong
Sanford Biggers
Billy Bultheel
Judy Chicago
Contemporary And (C&)
Zuzanna Czebatul
Simon Denny
Detach (Voltnoi & Quetempo)
Alexandros Douras
Christoph Draeger
Claude Eigan
The Critics Company
Awol Erizku
Doreen Garner
Miles Greenberg
Happy New Tears
HellFun (Josefin Arnell & Max Göran)
Jack Hogan & Trakal
Klára Hosnedlová
Satch Hoyt
Huntrezz Janos
Deborah Joyce Holman & Yara Dulac Gisler
Hypercomf
Yinka Ilory
Astrit Ismaili
Tomashi Jackson
Olalekan Jeyifous
Evi Kalogiropoulou
Samson Kambalu
Lito Kattou
KAYA (Kerstin Brätsch & Debo Eilers)
Navine G. Khan-Dossos
Nuri Koerfer
Ndayé Kouagou
Aristeidis Lappas
Kris Lemsalu & Kyp Malone
Marissa Malik & Yeshe Bahamon-Beesley
Rodney McMillian
Steve McQueen
Tourmaline
Ana Mendieta
Moor Mother
Petros Moris
Zanele Muholi
The Mycological Twist
Nascent (Paul Seidler & Max Hampshire)
Zohra Opoku
Kayode Ojo
Omsk Social Club
Vasilis Papageorgiou
Nektarios Pappas
Primitive Art
Yorgos Prinos
Ebony G. Patterson
Kameelah Janan Rasheed
Andrew Roberts
Victoria Santa Cruz
Jacolby Satterwhite
Erica Scourti
Jonas Schoeneberg
Paul Mpagi Sepuya
Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Juana Subercaseaux
Valinia Svoronou
Taka Taka
Ayesha Tan-Jones
Theo Triantafylidis
Filippos Telesto
Hank Willis Thomas
Iris Touliatou
Suzanne Treister
Eugenia Vereli
Julian Weber
Wu Tsang
Yessi Perse
Cajsa Von Zeipel
The 7th Athens Biennale is co-financed by the Hellenic Republic and the European Union through the Regional Operational Programme of “Attica” in the framework of NSRF 2014-2020, performs under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports and the City of Athens and is realised in partnership with Onassis Culture.
https://eclipse.athensbiennale.org