Yorgos Sapountzis
30 Jan - 28 Mar 2010
YORGOS SAPOUNTZIS
Pre - Bellevue
January 30 – March 28, 2010
Yorgos Sapountzis presents at Laboratorio 987 a site-specific project based on the redefinition of public space.
Title: Pre - Bellevue
Artist: Yorgos Sapountzis (Athens, 1976)
Curator: Tania Pardo
Coordination: Luisa Fraile
Venue: Laboratorio 987, MUSAC
Dates: January 30 – March 28, 2010
The Greek artist Yorgos Sapountzis (Athens, 1976) will hold his first solo show in Spain at Laboratorio 987. The show consists of a site-specific project created for the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León and fundamentally based on the concept and limitations of public space, its conventions and its annihilation through the appropriation and construction of a personal heterotopia, in allusion to the Foucaultian term, which makes reference to the heterogeneous space that the contemporary city actually is.
Sapountzis’ works characteristically take the shape of performances and installations with which he creates a unique heterogeneous space, reflecting on the symbolism of urban public sculpture and its relation to the city and its inhabitants. In this way, he alters the perception of our environment to determine a new reading of public action.
His work reinterprets mystified urban objects, touching on the idea of appropriation and the definition of the limits of public space. His installations are the result of a profound reflection on the historical and temporal aspects of the city, conceived as a relational space. Therefore, Sapountzis creates what he himself defines as “parasitic sculptures”, objects that feed on everything around them, which construct other realities through their presence. The work thus achieves a restructuring of space, which comes to the fore, overshadowing time, as social criticism, redefining and creating new frontiers not only regarding the concept of “public space” but also the preconceived parameters of public behaviour.
Sapountzis’ work reflects on the idea of the myths and formal language of Modern Art in the public space. To develop his actions, the artist uses ordinary materials—cloth, newspaper, wood, etc.—achieving installation that he accompanies with video creations and electronic music, giving rise to disturbingly beautiful pieces, which refer to a certain existential solemnity through the object and sound.
The show Pre-Bellevue, specifically conceived for the Laboratorio 987 space, will comprise a complex installation in the hall and a performance, with which the Greek artist approaches an exploration of the memory of the everyday objects from our surrounding environment that are undergoing constant redefinition, creating new frontiers for reflecting on our notion of what public space and behaviour constitute and symbolise.
Yorgos Sapountzis (Athens, 1976) lives and works in Berlin, the city in which he completed his artistic training. His most noteworthy one-person exhibitions include Menschen Tiere Sensationen, in Kunstverein Arnsberg (Arnsberg, Germany, 2009); Horizon Drop, Hermes und der Pfau, (Stuttgart, Germany, 2009), Forgotten Tactics, Isabella Bortolozzi Gallery (Berlin, Germany, 2006) and Nightly, at the Loraini Alimantiri/Gazonrouge gallery (Athens, Greece, 2005). He participated in Art Basel 2008 with the project After Electricity, the Remains of a Start presented by the gallery Loraini Alimantiri Gazonrouge in the section of the fair called Art Statement. His most recent group projects include Flüchtige Zeiten en Westfaelischer Kunstverein (Munster, Germany) curated by Katja Schroeder; Hidden in Remembrance is the Silent Memory of Our Future, The 4th Biennial of Moving Image, (Mechelen, Belgium), curated by Katerina Gregos; both in 2009. During 2008 he participated in the shows Social Diagrams. Planning reconsidered, Kuenstlerhaus Stuttgart, (Stuttgart, Germany), curated by Jesko Fezer and Axel John Wieder; Athensville, Art Athina, (Athens, Greece), under the curatorship of Marina Fokidis; and Common View, curated by Eleni Koukou and Ghislaine Dantan, held at The National Theatre (Athens, Greece). Also of note is his participation in Breakthrough! GREECE 2004: Contemporary Perspectives in the Visual Arts, Alcala 31, on the occasion of the participation of Greece as special guest country during ARCO Madrid 2004; project curated by Katerina Gregos, Denys Zacharopoulos and Sania Papa.
His most notable actions/performances include those held at Temporäre Kunsthalle, (Berlin, Germany, 2009), by the title of Schalen der Zeit / Shells of time: part -1 die bewegt sich nicht bewegen / the moved do not move, Marbach; part-2 ist das Jetzt Zeit? / is the now time? ; Out Window and About, Kuenstlerhaus (Stuttgart, Germany, 2008); After Electricity-Forth (2008) Artbasel Statement and After Electricity - from the life of the people (2008), curated by Luca Cerizza and Jennifer Chert, Micamoca, Berlin. At the Sculpture Garden of Basel (2007) he produced an action called The Tree Bring Forth Sweet Ecstasy 1, curated by Caroline Eggel and Christiane Rekade.
Pre - Bellevue
January 30 – March 28, 2010
Yorgos Sapountzis presents at Laboratorio 987 a site-specific project based on the redefinition of public space.
Title: Pre - Bellevue
Artist: Yorgos Sapountzis (Athens, 1976)
Curator: Tania Pardo
Coordination: Luisa Fraile
Venue: Laboratorio 987, MUSAC
Dates: January 30 – March 28, 2010
The Greek artist Yorgos Sapountzis (Athens, 1976) will hold his first solo show in Spain at Laboratorio 987. The show consists of a site-specific project created for the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León and fundamentally based on the concept and limitations of public space, its conventions and its annihilation through the appropriation and construction of a personal heterotopia, in allusion to the Foucaultian term, which makes reference to the heterogeneous space that the contemporary city actually is.
Sapountzis’ works characteristically take the shape of performances and installations with which he creates a unique heterogeneous space, reflecting on the symbolism of urban public sculpture and its relation to the city and its inhabitants. In this way, he alters the perception of our environment to determine a new reading of public action.
His work reinterprets mystified urban objects, touching on the idea of appropriation and the definition of the limits of public space. His installations are the result of a profound reflection on the historical and temporal aspects of the city, conceived as a relational space. Therefore, Sapountzis creates what he himself defines as “parasitic sculptures”, objects that feed on everything around them, which construct other realities through their presence. The work thus achieves a restructuring of space, which comes to the fore, overshadowing time, as social criticism, redefining and creating new frontiers not only regarding the concept of “public space” but also the preconceived parameters of public behaviour.
Sapountzis’ work reflects on the idea of the myths and formal language of Modern Art in the public space. To develop his actions, the artist uses ordinary materials—cloth, newspaper, wood, etc.—achieving installation that he accompanies with video creations and electronic music, giving rise to disturbingly beautiful pieces, which refer to a certain existential solemnity through the object and sound.
The show Pre-Bellevue, specifically conceived for the Laboratorio 987 space, will comprise a complex installation in the hall and a performance, with which the Greek artist approaches an exploration of the memory of the everyday objects from our surrounding environment that are undergoing constant redefinition, creating new frontiers for reflecting on our notion of what public space and behaviour constitute and symbolise.
Yorgos Sapountzis (Athens, 1976) lives and works in Berlin, the city in which he completed his artistic training. His most noteworthy one-person exhibitions include Menschen Tiere Sensationen, in Kunstverein Arnsberg (Arnsberg, Germany, 2009); Horizon Drop, Hermes und der Pfau, (Stuttgart, Germany, 2009), Forgotten Tactics, Isabella Bortolozzi Gallery (Berlin, Germany, 2006) and Nightly, at the Loraini Alimantiri/Gazonrouge gallery (Athens, Greece, 2005). He participated in Art Basel 2008 with the project After Electricity, the Remains of a Start presented by the gallery Loraini Alimantiri Gazonrouge in the section of the fair called Art Statement. His most recent group projects include Flüchtige Zeiten en Westfaelischer Kunstverein (Munster, Germany) curated by Katja Schroeder; Hidden in Remembrance is the Silent Memory of Our Future, The 4th Biennial of Moving Image, (Mechelen, Belgium), curated by Katerina Gregos; both in 2009. During 2008 he participated in the shows Social Diagrams. Planning reconsidered, Kuenstlerhaus Stuttgart, (Stuttgart, Germany), curated by Jesko Fezer and Axel John Wieder; Athensville, Art Athina, (Athens, Greece), under the curatorship of Marina Fokidis; and Common View, curated by Eleni Koukou and Ghislaine Dantan, held at The National Theatre (Athens, Greece). Also of note is his participation in Breakthrough! GREECE 2004: Contemporary Perspectives in the Visual Arts, Alcala 31, on the occasion of the participation of Greece as special guest country during ARCO Madrid 2004; project curated by Katerina Gregos, Denys Zacharopoulos and Sania Papa.
His most notable actions/performances include those held at Temporäre Kunsthalle, (Berlin, Germany, 2009), by the title of Schalen der Zeit / Shells of time: part -1 die bewegt sich nicht bewegen / the moved do not move, Marbach; part-2 ist das Jetzt Zeit? / is the now time? ; Out Window and About, Kuenstlerhaus (Stuttgart, Germany, 2008); After Electricity-Forth (2008) Artbasel Statement and After Electricity - from the life of the people (2008), curated by Luca Cerizza and Jennifer Chert, Micamoca, Berlin. At the Sculpture Garden of Basel (2007) he produced an action called The Tree Bring Forth Sweet Ecstasy 1, curated by Caroline Eggel and Christiane Rekade.