Vertigo

Vertigo

Exhibition by Natalia Manta and Dimitris Tampakis

Curated by Faidra Vasileiadou

Opening

Thursday, September 26, 2024, 18:00-21:00

The contemporary art series, Raw, present Vertigo, an exhibition by Natalia Manta and Dimitris Tampakis curated by Faidra Vasileiadou.

What would archaeologists from the future discover if they were to explore the artistic scenery of Athens nowadays? How would they study the experience reflected in artistic practice and echoing contemporary concerns? In what ways does contemporary art, seek to understand the values, ideologies and beliefs that prevail in our culture today? The B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music is approached as an incubator of culture, in the depths of which the future emerges and hatches. The exhibition entitled “Vertigo” is part of the RAW contemporary art exhibition program and depicts the intense volatility of our time, while at the same time discovers ways of balancing the vertiginous pace of evolution of today.

The participating artists, Natalia Manta and Dimitris Tampakis, converse gesturally in the Foundation’s in-between spaces and infiltrate the cultural genetic material of the future, as they mirror the obstacles of reality through their artistic vocabulary. The resulting artistic dialogue offers a metaphorical approach, where the artists create artworks that do not remain restricted to specific forms or spaces, but diffuse and interact with the surrounding space, emphasizing points of transition, transformation and change. This artistic collaboration, although based on material contrasts, manages to create a coherent narrative that explores the inner processes of the soul and delves into the concept of liberation from the traumas and existential dead ends of modern life.

Prints on aluminum surfaces, which freeze in time a primary wound to the ground zero, ceramic vessels in the soil, which narrate archaic rituals, metallic sculptural elements placed with acrophobic tendencies and cyanotypes as an x-ray of existence itself, are some of the works that add an internal dimension to this exhibition, while at the same time allowing the participating artists to expand the boundaries of their artistic expression and explore new ways of interacting with the public.

The general feeling of lack of balance and instability is encapsulated by the title of the exhibition, “Vertigo”, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s most influential masterpiece (1958), a cinematic essay on human suffering and catharsis. The comparison of the Hitchcockian gaze with Dante’s descent to Hell or the myth of Orpheus entering Hades to save Eurydice, highlights the need for liberation from the shackles of personal “vertigo”. Like Dante and Orpheus, Hitchcock’s hero, Scotty, dives into a dark and dangerous world, both literally and figuratively, to find or save something he  has lost. This journey is a deep psychological exploration of the human condition, obsession and psychological meltdown, with the director describing a man’s inner struggle with his fears and trauma in order to redeem himself.

This is exactly where the significance of the exhibition lies: in the introspection of the inner psyche of the individual that leads to catharsis – a process of discovery and self-understanding, which becomes especially important in times of instability and uncertainty and may be the only way of recovery in a toxic culture. From sculptures that flirt with the existential void of intergenerational trauma to ceramic forms from which flowers bloom in homage to the subtle art of saying goodbye, the exhibition “Vertigo” brings together two artists who do not just create static sculptural works, but rather stories that evolve in time, thus inviting the viewer to a deep introspection. Collectively, their dynamic and multidimensional work synthesizes a profound contemplation of the present moment and a prediction for the future, through artistic and existential exploration that attempts to create a living archive of the cultural and social challenges we face today.

Artists: Natalia Manta and Dimitris Tampakis

Curator: Faidra Vasileiadou

Artistic Director: Marina Miliou Theocharakis

Exhibition Production Assistant: Nefeli Siafaka

Communication: Marina Kampouroglou, Eva Karagiannaki 

Duration: September 26–December 13, 2024

CVs

Natalia Manta, is an artist based in Athens, that holds a BFA and an MFA from the Athens School of Fine Arts. Central to her artistic quest is the exploration of the mythological element as a revelation of an inner memory that springs to life in the present, entwining with both local and global histories. While clay serves as her primary medium, she also adeptly navigates metal, wax, glass, and light-sensitive chemicals. Collaborating across various artistic disciplines, including visual, music, theatre, and performance arts, has been an integral part of her practice. Noteworthy collaborators include director Thodoris Ambazis, choreographer Androniki Marathaki, and musicians Jannis Anastasakis, Hayden Chisholm, Sébastien Gramss, Michalis Siganidis, Savina Yannatou, and Evi Filippou. From 2017 to 2020, she taught as an assistant professor in the sculpture department at the Athens School of Fine Arts. Her work has been part of numerous solo and group exhibitions globally, making appearances at prestigious institutions such as the Korean International Ceramic Biennale, Eleusis European Capital of Culture, EMST, Onassis Culture, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation. She was honored with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS in 2022. Her creations find homes in private collections, embodying a fusion of material mastery and narrative resonance. 

Dimitris Tabakis is an artist and designer. He holds a Master’s degree in Visual Arts from the Athens School of Fine Arts (2019-2021) and a degree in Product and Systems Design Engineering from the University of the Aegean (2009-2015). Since 2018, he has been a co-founder of the art group un.processed.realities, active in art and design in Athens and Tinos. In 2020, he collaborated with Philip Raskovich on the FUGA project at the ETOPIA Center for Art and Technology in Zaragoza, Spain, and in 2022, he participated in the Bajaramovic Unlimited hosting program in Athens. Tabakis’s work has been featured in group exhibitions in various institutions and independent spaces in Greece and abroad, including MOMus in Thessaloniki (2018), UCL London (2019), MIET, Athens (2019), Keiv Gallery, Athens (2021), Centrum Gallery, Berlin (2021), Galerie Basia Embiricos, Paris (2022& 2024), One Minute Space, Athens (2023 & 2024), Kyan, Athens (2023), National Archaeological Museum, Athens (2023), Foundation of Tinian Culture Tinos (2023), HAUNT Berlin (2023), Xeno, Sigri (2023), and POLE-SUD, Strasbourg (2024).

Faidra Vasileiadou is a museologist and art curator, based in Athens. Since 2015, she has collaborated with cultural organizations and institutions such as MOMus, NEON and Schwarz Foundation, as an art mediator and museum educator in contemporary art exhibitions. Meanwhile, she participated as a guest curator in residencies and independent art publications, whilst in 2016 she was a fellow at the Curatorial Fellowship of Schwarz Foundation at Art Space Pythagorion in Samos, curated by Katerina Gregos. She has coordinated exhibitions curated by Kostis Velonis in Athens and Vienna, as well as part of the audiovisual archive of Katerina Zacharopoulou in ASFA Library. Finally, since 2018 she has been curating exhibitions and cultural events in Athens as an independent curator, most recently the exhibition “Contemporary Womanhood: Present Femininities 1.0” at MOMus Alex Mylona Museum.