Nikos Yavropoulos, Athens 2,450 Years Later | 4.10-7.11.2010 - cheapart

Curator: Olinka Miliaresi - Varvitsiotis

«ATHENS 2,450 YEARS LATER» is the title of the exhibition by the awarded visual artist Nikos Yavropoulos, which will be held at the Cheap Art venue from 4 October to 7 November 2010.
The artist, overwhelmed by the violent outbursts in Athens that climaxed during the events of December 2008, creates a series of works, aiming at commenting on the Greek society, as it has evolved 2.450 years after the completion of the sculptural decoration of the Parthenon –the universal monument symbolizing democracy and civilization.

The impressive installation by Yavropoulos consists of a replica of the south Parthenon metopes, with a recurring scene of the recent violent clashes in the streets of Athens overlapping the initial violent Centauromachy scene. By this piece Yavropoulos intends to describe the Greek landscape and elaborate his view, that 2,450 years since the construction of the Parthenon, the problems themselves may be different but the response of the society, the tendency to violently resolve disputes, the animalistic emotions of citizens remain the same.

The contemporary version of the Centauromachy is a reality we are all experiencing on a daily basis, although maybe somewhat distorted by the power of TV images.

By an allegoric relation between yesterday and today, Yavropoulos points out that the breathtaking evolution of mankind in the fields of science, arts and culture has not had the power to reverse the ancient tendency towards dominion and violent resolution of societal problems.