With long-term research and deep knowledge, eclectic management of material, aesthetic sophistication, a pleasant abstract and masterful synthetic ability, unexpected sharp humor and excellent technical performance, Kiki Voulgareli delivers us a unit that, beyond its artistic value, is a talented condensation of timeless and extrovert Greek identity. A brilliant image-making cultural “campaign” of potentially international reach and multiple viewing applications.

The multifaceted pictorial circle of the “Finds”, created right from start, on the occasion of its first presentation in the cafe of the National Archaeological Museum, in actual fact, organizes a “museum” within the Museum, reminding and reintroducing the viewer to iconic ancient artifacts of different eras and materials, immortalized within a new, dynamic and original context. Well-known Cycladic figurines, prehistoric frescoes from the settlement of Akrotiri on Thera, archaic and classical masterpieces or geometric vases, tombstones and votive sculptural groups, jewels, personifications of winds, sirens and theater masks, turned towards independent visual centers, unfold an enchanting cultural palimpsest inventory, re-shaped across a historical sequence, of delicate quality and rare expertise.

The “Finds” of Kiki Voulgareli, consisting of archetypal re-seen three-dimensional images of small and medium dimensions, created by traditional manual methods and modern multimedia (painting, digital design, engraving, printing, collage, etc.), and integrated into a new context or complex, within a selected heterogeneous environment, deliver clear-cut lessons in viewing and personal interpretation of a wide range of well-known and valuable portable treasures of Greek antiquity.

The whole of the “Finds” section includes fourteen works – constructions, inspired by emblematic exhibits of the Museum. The approach here employed, by encapsulating familiar images in innovative hulls, involves artistic intention, but also special attention to the accuracy of the analogue impression of the original work. In the same section, there are also twenty works with visual reprints of old stamps (circulation date from 1901 to 1973), from series of mythological, archaeological and historical content, which pertain to an early noble touristic targeting, designed by distinguished Greek engravers (D. Biskinis, I. Kefallinos, O. Pervolarakis, Tassos, P. Gravvalos) and awarded international prizes. Their printing by the creator was performed on canvas or on special paper with the traditional method of tin engraving rotogravure, in an attempt to approach the aesthetics of the original printing, as part of which either the traces of wear were kept, or partial “restorative intervention” was carried out, in order to make their original design more apparent.

In the universe of Kiki Voulgareli, where two Cycladic figurines immerse in the light of the Aegean Full Moon and an animal-shaped vase from Chalandriani on Syros rests on a layer of autumn leaves, the old myth meets the new. In her effort to interpret and re-exhibit in a personal way unique artifacts, which for the very reason that we easily recognize them or simply because we take them for granted, we sometimes tend to pass them by or forget their rare beauty, Kiki Voulgareli sets up their reconstruction both ways, by excavating a theme that gives an excellent opportunity of a new reading and memorization, and by promising a usable pictorial recapitulation of our cultural entity.

Iris Kritikou

Entrance to the Cafe is free.

Exhibition opening: , October 12, 17:00 – 20:00
Exhibition duration: October 12 – November 8, 2024
Exhibition opening hours: Monday to Sunday: 08:30 – 15:30
Tuesday: 13:00 – 20:00
Organization – Editing: Emilia Kougia, tel. 6944417606
Address: National Archaeological Museum, 44, 28th October (Patesion) St., Athens 10682
Information: www.namuseum.gr