ART NEWS:November Νο.1

Science and nature remain prominent themes in Shea’s Hembrey work. Hembrey questions what is real and the true structure of the universe. He provokes viewers to question what they are seeing and frequently uses trompe-l’oeil techniques in his series. While the artist’s work is rooted in science, the lyrical narrative of five fictional artists defines this exhibition. Hembrey spent the past year living multiples lives with different studios and routines. He created the work “MultiVerses”, so his solo exhibition looks like a group show. Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, 505 W 24th St, New York, Duration: 30/10-13/12/14,Days & Hours: Tue-Sat: 10:00-18:00, http://brycewolkowitz.com/h/

Since her earliest formative years, in a family who made their living cultivating plant seeds, Kusama has been fascinated by the natural world. She has always had an affinity with nature, particularly vegetal and floral life, but the pumpkin continues to occupy a special place in her iconography and is a motif she has returned to repeatedly throughout her career. Μajor new series of bronze sculptures are on display in the Victoria Miro gallery’s unique water garden until 19 December. The bronze pumpkins have been two years in the making and mark the first time the artist has worked with bronze on such a large scale. Victoria Miro – Garden, 16 Wharf Road London, Duration: 16/9-19/12/14, Days & Hours: Tue –Sat: 10:00-18:9-00, www.victoria-miro.com

Venia Dimitrakopoulou presents the sculptural installation “Bastions” at the patio of Benaki Museum, a work of monumental scale made of iron. The work, its shadow created by the work (natural or artificial) and the sound which accompanies it, create a a shifting environment where the visitor is invited to experience synesthesia (“union of the senses”). The immovability of the sculpture is “liquefied”, creating dynamic forms in constant movement, like images from a battle with an uncertain outcome. Benaki Museum, 138 Piraios Str., Athens. Duration: 6/11/14-8/2/15, Days & Hours: Thu, Sun: 10:00-18:00, Fri, Sat: 10:00-22:00, http://www.benaki.gr/index.asp?lang=en

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849) is the most famous Japanese artist worldwide. His painted work, designed and engraved embodies spirituality and soul of the country, particularly his prints of landscapes, remarkable synthesis between traditional principles of Japanese art and Western influences. Designed in two parts, the exhibition presents 500 exceptional works, many of which never left Japan after the opening of the Hokusai Institute in Tokyo in spring 2015. The exhibition will be divided into two parts in order to ensure the proper preservation of the most fragile works. Grand Palais, Galeries Nationales, 3 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, Paris, Duration: 1/10/14-18/1/15, Days & Hours: Wed-Mon: 110:00-20:00, http://www.grandpalais.fr/

The new work of Anastasia Karvela entitled “Present absences” , deconstructs and reconstructs a furniture of everyday life. The chair, a symbol of the cherished s authority, but empty indicates the physical presence and absence and our indifference to what unacceptable is happening around us…In those works the artist captures her concerns and visualizes her profound thoughts in two-dimensional works and small construction of mixed media. 7 Gallery, 20 Solonos str., Duration 4-29/11/14,Days&Hours:Tue,The,Fri:11:00-14:00& 18:00-21:00, Wed, at:11:00-15:00, www.gallery7.gr

The collective Depression Era – and the NGO “KOLEKTIV8″ that surrounds it was founded in 2011, starting with the need for a joint collective discourse, through art, to be placed in adverse economic, political and social landscape in recent years. It includes 36 members -photographers, filmmakers, researchers, writers, architects, journalists and theorists, who are trying, through a large group exhibition, to record and interpret the social, historical and economic transformation that takes place in Greece today. Through narrative images are listed not only the particularities of the Greek society but also the modern European culture, especially in the Western world, the value system of the extreme capitalism and its impact on societies. The collective work entitled «Depression Era: The Era of Recession” is presented through 250 photos, videos, and texts. Some of the participating artists are: Georges Drivas, Yiannis Hadjiaslanis, Harry Kakoulidis, Petros Koublis, Maria Louka, Dimitris Michalakis, , Spyros Staveris , Angela Svoronou, Yiannis Theodoropoulos Dimitris Tsoumplekas etc., Benaki Museum, 138 Piraios Str., Athens. Duration: 6/11/14-11/1/15, Days & Hours: Thu, Sun: 10:00-18:00, Fri, Sat: 10:00-22:00, http://www.benaki.gr/index.asp?lang=en