ART-PREVIEW:La Verità È Sempre Un’altra

Vlassis Caniaris, Aspects of racism II, 1970, Plaster, 15 x 125 x 30 cm, Donated by Ioanna Irini Caniaris, 2014, Inv. No. 994/14Continuing its series of exhibitions entitled “EMST in the World”, the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST) collaborated with The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome to present the exhibition “La verità è sempre un’altra” that is hosted within “Time is Out of Joint”, the current set up of the Gallery’s Permanent Collection.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: EMST Archive

The exhibition “La verità è sempre un’altra” is the 3rd edition “EMST in the World” series launched in 2016, which has two parts, on in the collaborative institution and the other in the EMST premises in Athens. During the Italian part of the project the works of 17 artists are exhibited. The selection of the artists was based on their connection with Gruppo Sigma. After the World War ΙΙ and the civil war that followed, many Greek artists reacting to the national and social conservatism that prevailed in Greece at that time,  and departed to study or as cultural emigrants aboard. Gruppo Sigma was formed in 1958 in Rome by Vlassis Caniaris, Nikos Kessanlis, Dimitris Contos, Yannis Gaitis and Costas Tsoclis. These five young artists dared not as individuals but as a group with a national identity, to claim a place in the domain of international Contemporary Art, a thing that had not until then occurred in the world of Greek art. Although, as a group, they mounted only two exhibitions, one at the Galleria San Carlo in Naples, and the other at the Galleria Il Cancello in Bologna, they did not pass unnoticed. Most of the artists presented in the exhibition have a deep connection with Italy, a place that they chose either for their education or for their artistic research and, as a result, the influence by the social, political and cultural situation in Rome, during their stay in the city, is obvious on their work. The similarities and differences that emerge through the juxtaposition of the works, also depend on the spectators’ interpretation and perception. The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST) founded in 1997 and began its operation in 2000. From 2003 until 2008, EMST was hosted in the Athens Concert Hall, while from 2008 until 2014.in the Athens Conservatory. It had also presented exhibitions and events at the Athens School of Fine Arts and in the public space. Since 2016, its permanent home is the former Fix brewery on Syngrou Avenue, the reconstruction of which was completed in 2014. Participating artists: Dimitris Alithinos, Manolis Baboussis, Vlassis Caniaris, Stathis Chryssikopoulos, Dimitris Condos, Eirini Efstathiou, Yannis Gaitis, Emily Jacir, Nikos Kessanlis, Kimsooja, Piotr Kowalski, Dimitris Kozaris, Thomas Struth, Kyrillos Sarris, Costas Tsoclis, Costas Varotsos and Mary Zygouri.

Info: Curator: Katerina Koskina-EMST Director, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Viale delle Belle Arti 131, Rome, Duration: 21/9-11/11/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 8:30-19:30, http://lagallerianazionale.com

Costas Tsoclis, Composition, 1959, Cement, coal, acrylic on burlap , 195 x 130 cm Purchased in 2002 on subsidy by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Inv. No. 184/02
Costas Tsoclis, Composition, 1959, Cement, coal, acrylic on burlap , 195 x 130 cm, Purchased in 2002 on subsidy by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Inv. No. 184/02

 

 

Costas Varotsos, La veritá é sempre un’ altra, 1980, Iron, chalk, 37 x 31 cm, Courtesy of the artist
Costas Varotsos, La veritá é sempre un’ altra, 1980, Iron, chalk, 37 x 31 cm, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Dimitris Alithinow, Untitled, 1979, 130 x 100 cm, Paper, metal, graphite, Courtesy of the artist
Dimitris Alithinow, Untitled, 1979, 130 x 100 cm, Paper, metal, graphite, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Kyrillos Sarris, Readings, 2000, Video installation, 2 videos, duration 34'55', a) black and white with sound, b) colour with sound, Donated by the artist, 2012, Inv .No. 856/12
Kyrillos Sarris, Readings, 2000, Video installation, 2 videos, duration 34’55’, a) black and white with sound, b) colour with sound, Donated by the artist, 2012, Inv .No. 856/12

 

 

Nikos Kessanlis, Bag, 1961, Plaster, 14 x 20 x 17 cm, Donated by the artist, 2001, Inv. No. 134/01
Nikos Kessanlis, Bag, 1961, Plaster, 14 x 20 x 17 cm, Donated by the artist, 2001, Inv. No. 134/01

 

 

Thomas Struth, Paradise 25, Yuquehy, Brazil, 2001 , Colour photograph, 216.5 x 168 cm, Edition 3/10, Purchased in 2003 , Inv. No. 486/03
Thomas Struth, Paradise 25, Yuquehy, Brazil, 2001 , Colour photograph, 216.5 x 168 cm, Edition 3/10, Purchased in 2003 , Inv. No. 486/03

 

 

Yannis Gaitis, Clandestins, 1969, Construction from painted wood, 220 x 130 x 30, 5 cm, Private Collection-Greece
Yannis Gaitis, Clandestins, 1969, Construction from painted wood, 220 x 130 x 30, 5 cm, Private Collection-Greece