THERELIEFS

Αrtists: Elina Ioannou, Louiza Papaloizou
Curator: Areti Leopoulou

At: Pylon Art & Culture
1A Athinon street, 3041, Limassol, Cyprus

Duration:
April 26 - June 22, 2024

Exhibition Opening:
Friday, 26 April 2024, at 19:00
Opening hours:
Thursday & Friday 17:00-20:00, Saturday 11:00-13:00

Pylon Art & Culture presents THERELIEFS, a narrative composition by artist Elina Ioannou and writer Louiza Papaloizou. The exhibition is curated by art historian Areti Leopoulou.

In THERELIEFS, Elina Ioannou carves the tectonic evolution of a place and a culture bearing a history that is harsh and difficult, yet tender and fertile, in spite of a climate that seems increasingly barren. Ioannou constructs with tenacity and tenderness, the architecture of survival through sculptures that fruitfully transform stone, epidermis, and shell into life.

In parallel, each cutting through their respective territories, Louiza Papaloizou and Elina Ioannou, assemble a narrative inspired by the morphological, climatic, and psychosocial changes which are currently taking place. This culminates in a two-part work with multifaceted interpretative possibilities regarding the adversities confronting all life, the carving out of language and meaning through the quotidien, and a society that is continually changing, regressing, being re-imagined.

Bios:

Elina Ioannou
Elina Ioannou (b. 1979, Cyprus) initially trained in Architecture and Design before pursuing Fine Arts at École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, France. Her practice involves a wide range of media, including drawing, photography, sculpture and installations.She has presented her work in numerous group and solo shows, art fairs and biennales. Selected exhibitions: «Our Creative Diversity: Kairos», 13th Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, Puglia, Italy, 2008; «Project Room I, Caught in The Act», (solo show), NiMAC, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2008; Salon Du Dessin, Montpellier, France, 2012; «Guilty As Charged», (solo show), city hall of the 11th arrondissement of Paris, France, 2012; «1, 2, 3, b4», Thessaloniki Biennale, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2013; South & West Facade (Stone Slabs No. 1–20 and 21-37), (solo show), Hermes Stores, Athens, Greece, 2015.
Her work can be seen in public spaces including an installation in the main plaza of Kyperounta village and the patio of Lanitio Gymnasium, at the Cyprus State collection, at the collection of Phileleftheros newspaper, at the collection of MOMus museum of contemporary art Thessaloniki. Ioannou has done several collaborations including Hermès Paris, Camper and CasmperLab, Marriott International, VisitCyprus, and Phileleftheros newspaper.

Louiza Papalozou
Louiza Papaloizou (1972, Morphou), grew up in Limassol and studied in England and then in New York where she lived for eleven years. For her book of short stories «Endangered Species» (Publications Afi, Limassol, 2010) she won the National Prize for Literature for a new writer, while for her novel “Vouni” (Publications To Rodakio, Athens, 2020), she won the National Prize for Fiction in Cyprus and Greece respectively.

Areti Leopoulou
Areti Leopoulou (1977) is an art historian, PhD in Art History.
Currently she is a curator of exhibitions, collections and publications at the MOMus - Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as the Thessaloniki Bienniale of Contemporary Art. She has numerous research contributions for exhibition catalogs, conferences and art editions. In 2017, Futura Pub. Athens published her book “Beneficial Parasites”.
Her interests are focused on the field of conceptual art and more specifically on the macro/micro-political engagement of artistic interventions in everyday life.
She is a member of the ICOM-Hellenic Committee, the Society of Greek Art Historians and of several editorial committees for cultural journals and publications.

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