Tasseography 2011

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OLYMPIA POLYMENI - TASSEOGRAPHY: extended until 13 May 2011 April 6th - May 13th Much to our delight, Olympia Polymeni's new installation is incessantly changing in shape and texture to the point of gaining another dimension of meaning. Olympia has always expressed fascination with art objects that reflect on their own subject matter, and now after one week at Sartorial, her works allude to the art of ‘reading the coffee' more than ever before. Gloss paint is known for its penchant for mutation and changes of shape and texture well after the painting is formally – that is, by traditional standards – completed. Polymeni's choice of medium can only be considered perfect, now that it resonates with the metaphor of tasseography and identities shaped by chance and perception. On this occasion the exhibition shall be extended until the 13th of May. Polymeni’s work takes an unusual twist on the over-used motif of the female identity, explored through the metaphor of tasseography, or the art of fortune-telling by patterns of ground coffee on the surface of a white cup, that is still widely practiced in her native Greece. Polymeni has created a series of paintings and sculptures evocative of curvy female outlines as though formed by leftover coffee. The traditional reading of the female body would have it reduced to the womb, a black hole leading to decay and death, irrational like fortune telling or like Polymeni’s uncannily disjointed bodies.  Lumpy blacknesses acquire a presence of their own, as the texture of paint and sculptures of wax trigger off an intensely organic response, making the fragments of female bodies seem accidental and insignificant, as though they could have taken any other shape. Polymeni interrogates and subverts the traditional notion of femininity reduced to confinement and “womanly” pastimes like “telling the coffee” in the afternoon just to while away the time. Not without irony, identity is represented as tragically dissipated with no hope to ever be whole again, constructed and refashioned over and over again by social norms and preconceptions. The female body eventually becomes a scene for political, social and existential statements. Olympia Polymeni was born in Preveza, Greece in 1975. After graduating in philosophy, she studied painting at Athens School of Fine Arts and moved to London in 2009 to pursue her studies, earning an MA in Fine Art from Central St. Martins College in 2010. She lives and works in East London.

26 Argyle Square London WC1H 8AP - art@sartorialart.com - + 44 (0) 20 7278 0866 2010 Sartorial Contemporary Art

See-through, gloss paint on wood, 150 x 100 cm, 2011

Swallow, gloss paint on wood, 150 x 100 cm, 2011

Torso in Ermine, gloss paint on wood, 150 x 100 cm, 2011

Mole, gloss paint on wood, 100 x 150 cm, 2011

Pythia, h 67 x w 44 x d 49 cm, black wax, 2011

The Importance of the Others

FEMINIST AND GAY ISSUES - THE IMPORTANCE OF THE OTHERS 

Nicola Ruben Montini invited the Greek artist Olympia Polymeni to show her works in his home/studio Space4828 of Venice. The two artists first met at Central Saint Martin's College in London, where they focused their interest on gender studies, a research area not covered by the academic system in their native Countries, Italy and Greece.

Feminist and gay issues, The Importance of the others is an open studio perceived as dialogue between the works of two artists who defines themselves as gay activist and a feminist artist.

The statement of the exhibition is the margin between the two works in which both artists have resorted to use cinematic references to explicit their research: the videos Sorry (by NRM) and Beware of the Cross (by O.P.).

Part of the performative research of NRM incorporates the language of feminist performance addressing to issues related to homosexuality, in an attempt of re-enacting the subversive intent and searching for the crudity of the radical feminist direct language, with paradoxical results. In her paintings and sculptures Olympia Polymeni does not appear assertive in telling the women’s condition but rather seems to find the screen of formality and tone of blunt aesthetic "more diplomatic" and allusive. In both cases, it problematizes the machismo as a discourse on violence. Subverting a balance of power becomes an exercise in elegance and sometimes shamelessness.

Chiara Trivelli

All works by Olympia Polymeni are Courtesy of Sartorial Contemporary Art Gallery (London).

SPACE 4828

Spazio totale a un mese dalla Biennale. A Venezia inaugura la casa/studio/galleria d’artista Space4828 tra omosessualità e femminismo

Scritto da Redazione | mercoledì, 4 maggio 2011 · 3 commenti 

Olympia Polymeni, Beware of the cross 2011 (still da video)

Il mondo fra quattro mura. Questa l’impressione che si ricava, leggendo la presentazione di Space4828, nuovo eclettico spazio che si inaugura a Venezia poche settimane prima dell’inizio della Biennale. “È la casa/studio del giovane artista italiano Nicola Ruben Montini a Venezia, dove lui come artista, curatore e residente cura mostre, talks e proiezioni di e sull’arte contemporanea”.
Come dire: tutto quel che serve, a portata di mano. Che ora Montini intende condividere, creando “un luogo per la discussione e per la ricerca sull’arte contemporanea, con particolare interesse per trends emergenti da tutto il mondo”. Auguri! Intanto ha a esporre l’artista greca Olympia Polymeni: i due si sono conosciuti nientepopodimenoché al Central Saint Martin’s College di Londra, dove hanno potuto approfondire l’interesse per i gender studies, settore di ricerca non contemplato dal sistema accademico dei loro Paesi d’origine, l’Italia e la Grecia. In programma un open studio sul tema Feminist and gay issues, The importance of the others, pensato come dialogo tra le opere di un artista che si autodefinisce attivista gay e quelle di un’artista femminista.

Inaugurazione: giovedì 5 maggio 2011 – ore 18.30
Cannaregio 4828 – Venezia
http://www.space4828.com/

Artribune

Sarah's Nipples

Postcardwall

Two hundred and forty three

 

 Sarah’s Nipples
2010 by Olympia Polymeni
Central Saint Martins MA Show

Polymeni’s work seizes the true potential that lies within the monotone relationship of black and white. All her work is articulated through a dense inky black, with shape manipulated subtly through soft large swells and curves. This yielding articulation stops any of the harsh contrast so easily achieved through black and white, as well as allowing these compositions a deeply organic effect despite their unforgiving colour palette. This is perhaps particularly poignant in Polymeni’s three dimensional work: sculptures made out of bees wax – wax literally melting into these softly lined shapes. This impact and emphasis on material and form is achieved in the two dimensional pieces with the amount of white space these black shapes have to breath in. Surrounded by white the effect is one of a spot, a stain, a centre point; we are made to focus on black in its deliberate and obvious invasion of white. Sarah’s Nipples’ shape takes advantage of this focus, allowing the change of the rounded curve to a determined yet quiet diversion on the left a true presence. This gentle change is pleasing to the viewer, whose automatic tendency to try and recognise form becomes more determined with the composition’s simplicity, or happy to accept defeat with a shape so uncomplicatedly abstract; indeed, deciphering on the part of the viewer is made all the more intriguing with such a provocative title.  There is something contented, restrained but with satisfaction, about Polymeni’s compositions, proving the power of the abstract that lies in its refraining of mirroring reality.

Words by Sophie Hill

Cycladic Torso, ink on paper, 2010

Torso II, acrylic on paper, 2010

               

                                                          Torso I, acrylic on paper, 2010

The Elephant Woman, gloss paint on paper, 2010

Supine, gloss paint on paper, 2010

Genitalia, beeswax, 2010

Installation view, CSM MAFA, 2010

The Ingram Collection

The Lightbox

New acquisitions from The Ingram Collection

WEEKLY COLUMN – WOKING INFORMER
 New acquisitions from The Ingram Collection on display in The Lightbox.
A newly acquired artwork from The Ingram Collection is now displayed on the second floor. The Ingram Collection of modern and contemporary British art, on loan to The Lightbox, consists of over 300 pieces and has been assembled over the course of the last decade, with 65 additions in the last 18 months. It represents an exemplary showcase of some of the finest examples of works by British artists, living or working in the country, with particular reference to the post-war period.
The current work, entitled Fallen, is by Olympia Polymeni. Born in Preveza, Greece she moved to London in 2009 to pursue her art, earning an MA in Fine Art from Central St. Martins College in 2010. She currently lives and works in East London.
Polymeni’s work deals with female identity and how it is constructed. In art, the female body would be traditionally shown as an object of desire, seen in a decorative context or explored through ‘womanly pastimes’. Polymeni challenges these prevailing ideas by taking a ‘womanly pastime’ and flipping it on its head. Her art is inspired by the tradition of tasseography, the art of fortune-telling using coffee grounds, a tradition still widely practiced in her native Greece.
The artist created a series of large, abstract paintings that evoke curvy female outlines like those made by leftover coffee grounds. The works were created using large pools of gloss paint. Close up, the dried paint creates shiny lumpy blacknesses and amazing ripple like patterns and crinkled textures. The paintings form their own shapes and patterns, quite accidentally, as opposed to the way many artists, (mostly men) have depicted women.
Why not come along to The Lightbox and have a look at Olympia Polymeni and other artworks on display from The Ingram Collection. Entrance is Free. The Lightbox, is open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.00pm and Sunday 11.00am – 5.00pm. For more information please visit www.thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737800.

Beware of the Cross, 2011

Film DVD produced in London in 2011. Excerpt from Evdokia, directed by Alexis Damianos (1971). Edited by Giorgios Dagklis.
Exhibited as part of Olympia Polymeni's solo show at Sartorial Contemporary Art in 2011.

"this iconic example of Greek symbolism in cinema offers several clues to the messages contained in TASSEOGRAPHY"  http://www.sartorialart.com/

Press: ARTRIBUNE, FOOK MAGAZINE

Interview with Joel Chernin for the FOOK Magazine, 2011:

J: Your current work is inspired by a Greek custom among women called Tasseography: the reading of the Turkish coffee grounds at the bottom of a white cup - it is supposed to reveal the future. The first question I would like to ask is the naming of the abstract shapes you create. You give them names of recognisable forms - why is this and why not leave it to the viewers' interpretation?

O: It is true that I am not very 'democratic' about it. It is a conscious decision to propose my own point of view to the viewer and then let him/her respond if he/she agrees or not. I prefer clear positions, yes or no; it is black or white. Maybe it is a cultural thing: Greek culture, language and... sky has no grey.

J: Why just the two colours in the works?

O: My previous answer covers partly this question: Black and white, if seen positively, point to absolute solutions. But the truth is that it can also have a negative meaning, which is my weakness to see colour. I have chosen the simplest way to represent the coffee grounds by using black. This project came about from realizing and accepting my weak points as an artist: I wasn't a colourist, I couldn't use brushes, I was too subjective and so on...

J: With your work you want to show the way the female body is perceived reflects and determines its position in society. Are you questioning the role physical beauty, male sexism or something else?

O: I was about to finish my dissertation for CSM and I had done all the research on the topic of feminism and perception theories but I didn't have any conclusion yet. I remember strongly that I was having a shower when this idea dawned on me. I felt the whole power and vulnerability of my own body: this is all I have, this is all that people get when they see me. I realized that there is no ethos or reason that explains the relations between people and between sexes. These relations are built on the way we perceive each other relying on our subjectivity. I mean that it was a stong personal experience derived from my microcosmos, and that it can possibly reflect what it is going on out there.

J: You wrote 'My practice questions the way we perceive gender and suggests that gender is constructed by chance and perception'. Can you expand on this please?

O: Well, gender first of all is a matter of chance: a random combination of genes before we are born. The place and culture we are born in, is determined by chance as well. We can't control our origins. After we are born gender becomes a matter of perception. The way we are perceived has to do less with our actual physical characteristics than the way these characteristics are meant to be interpreted by the culture or society we live in. In our turn, we respond to norms and behaviours which are already there (set by family, school, society) and which determine how gender should be or behave. This irrational chain of responses constructs gender. A mechanism of cause and result is built upon chance.

J: Having looked upon the bottom of the coffee cup what do you predict for your art this year?

O: Ha! It is a shame that I don't really know to 'read' the coffee; in this case, I won't risk any interpretation. I see blackness, mess, repetition. The only trace of body I can see is not into the bottom but on the rim of the cup, and it is my lipstick to remind me that I am still here.

J: Can you give your definition of what is art?

O: Art is about what we cannot do, cannot have or cannot understand.

Forza Nuova, SPACE4828, Venice, 2011

Title: "Ballarine"
150x200 cm
Year: 2010
Technique: drawing
Artist: Olympia Polymeni

We apologize, but " Ballarine" by Olympia Polymeni is for private use only and cannot be displayed in public.

SPACE4828

Press review: ARSKEY, Venezia041

FORZA NUOVA

curated by Nicola Ruben Montini
from the 30th of June to the 1st of August.
Preview: 30th of June, 6.30 P.M.

works by Giovanni Morbin, Vanessa Mitter, Nicola Ruben Montini, Giusy Pirrotta, Olympia Polymeni, Karol Radziszewski
FORZA NUOVA is a paradoxical and brainstorming event, between political and allusive blunt statements. For the preview evening, Space4828 is delighted to present “The Mock Modernist Manifesto”, performance by Vanessa Mitter, from 6.30 p.m.
Alongside Giovanni Morbin “Il Popolo d’Italia” (2007), where the artist displays the volume hidden between the bodies and the arms of a group of young fascists, the work of Karol Radziszewski “Fag Fighters: Prologue” (2007) shows the artists’s grandmother preparing the pink masks for a punitive actions of “fags” against the conservative society. “Fag Fighters: Prologue” is part of a larger work titled Fag Fighters, a provocative work of a fictional urban “guerrilla” unit, where the artist showcases the action of a gay-gang operating at the margins of mainstream society, committing several acts of violence, including sexual abuses.
If in this artwork the border between drama and simulation is blurred and the fictional aspect appears disturbingly realistic, in Vanessa Mitter’s performance “The Mock Modernist Manifesto” the artist strikes-up a hymn of praise to the realm of fictional life-style against the truthfulness of Nicola Ruben Montini’s video footage of his performance “We hope not to have another B-day”, where the reference to Berlusconian Italian times are dramatically related to Mussolini’s dictatorship.
The shows continues with a series of images by London based italian artist Giusy Pirrotta, who has randomly found slides of italian fascist architecture in a british second-hand shop and whose gaze is, for a moment, the reflection of the british tourist on the italian post-war panorama. The refined approach of Giusy Pirrotta to themes such as the Fascist Society is here amplified by the work of Olympia Polymeni, whose delicate drawing goes back to the theme of gender, in a naif and enormously poetic approach to the representation of the body.
www.space4828.com

Modern Greek History

Modern Greek History through the display of the female body in public.
How the body reflects social and political relations in time. From the cultural innovations traditionally reported in the Greek history to the attempts of westernazitation and finally to protest.

Part 1: Daphnis and Chloe (1931), Greek film directed by Orestis Laskos. The first nude scene in European cinema.

Part 2:  Patistas, cosmetics (1980), produced by Pavlos Pissanos. The first Greek television commercial of cosmetics, characteristic of the time of Metapolitefsi (the era after the Junta of 1967-1974) in such an extent that for most Greeks the theme from Rocky (Gonna Fly Now) is associated with cosmetics instead of boxing; Patistas is occasionally broadcasted till nowadays.

Part 3: Athens Polytechnic (1995), performance by the contemporary Greek artist Georgia Sagri. Protest against the character that the 17 November Anniversary has taken, an anniversary established to celebrate the arise of the Athens Polytechnic movement and the consequent fall of the junta.