Press Release:
Antonia Papatzanaki,
Sculpture & Prints
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[CONTACT]
Acclaimed Greek Sculptor Antonia Papatzanaki’s
Stratifications at The President’s Gallery,
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
July 25 through August 19
Opening reception July 27, 6-8pm
(June 6, New York) The President’s Gallery of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice is pleased to announce Stratifications by internationally acclaimed Greek sculptor Antonia Papatzanaki. On exhibit are two bodies of work: Exceeding Limits, a series of wall reliefs incorporating light, and Cellular, engraved Plexiglas works in a series that includes archival prints. In conjunction with the exhibition, Papatzanaki will be a visiting guest lecturer in the Department of Art and Music for the summer 2016 session.
Exceeding Limits comprises a series of mounted sculptures. Plexiglas, metal, and a hidden source of illumination combine to form graceful conduits that allow for the transmission of light. “By surpassing the material limits of the work,” says Papatzanaki, “light saturates the space and alludes to the possibility that human consciousness can transcend material reality.” Simultaneously linear and rigid, organic and natural, each piece shifts consciousness to the visual realm—human interiority as it moves from thought to action, to interaction, and beyond.
The Cellular series is inspired by cellular structure. Superimposed levels of engraved, translucently colored, fluorescent Plexiglas are highlighted by ambient light refracted on the carved surface. This focus on the organic unit, coupled with light, calls to attention an important premise of the artist’s work—light’s primary role in the existence of life.
A special addition to Stratifications will be the inclusion of archival prints from the Cellular series. Culled from the formation of the series, the prints’ suggestion of layering deepens the flat surface via powerful abstractions and color, capturing light evocatively and merging technology, science, and art.
About the Artist: Born in Chania on the island of Crete in Greece, Antonia Papatzanaki is a renowned international artist. Educated in the Athens School of Fine Arts and the Vienna Hochschule für Angenwandte Kunst, she acquired her master’s degree in fine arts from the Pratt Institute in New York. Papatzanaki is the recipient of many prestigious awards in addition to winning multiple panhellenic and international competitions held to choose and fund artists for the creation of public installations. Her public light installation Agora was exhibited at Battery Park during 2000-2001 as part of the Temporary Public Art Program of New York City. Several of Papatzanaki’s outdoor public works are permanently installed throughout Greece, including her sculpture Lighthouse in the square of the Kato Patisia Metro Station, Athens. Papatzanaki has exhibited widely—notable among her many solo exhibitions are Refractions, Ekfrasi - Υianna Grammatopoulou, Athens, 2013; Robust Matter and Image, Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Rethymnon, 2010; Antonia Papatzanaki, Recent Works, Tsatsis Projects / Artforum, Thessaloniki, 2008; and Visions of Light, Chashama, 112 Gallery, New York, 2007. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in Europe, Asia, and the United States, including Whispers, Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, Rethymnon, 2016; History-Irony, Vorres Museum, Paiania, Athens, 2015; Harmony, 22nd Seoul International Art Festival, Chosunilbo Museum, South Korea, 2014; New: Illusion or Reality, 4th Biennial, Tashkent, 2007; and Artistic Fragments, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York, 2005. Further work has been acquired by the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the Copelouzos family collection, the Vorres Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete, and the American College of Greece. Articles, reviews, and critical analyses of Papatzanaki’s work appear in solo- and group-show catalogues in addition to books on art, art periodicals, and newspapers and magazines in Greece and New York. She maintains studios in Athens, Greece and New York City.
For more of this artist's work, please visit http://tinyurl.com/zps2h9x
