Aspa Stasinopoulou 1935-2017, The Carabinieri
Aspa Stasinopoulou would have been delighted with the space where her work is on display today; the blue hue of the venue, uncannily reminiscent of her final purely painterly works showcased at Amsterdam’s Deendt Gallery in February 1971; the weathered, neglected walls bearing the imprints of frames, the shattered ceiling lamp, the geometric patterns adorning the expansive white wooden door, and the blinding summer light filtering through the dust-laden windows; and, of course, the view of Patision Street, where she tirelessly captured protesters on film on anniversaries of the Polytechnic uprising and during various protest marches in the early post-junta years. The overarching title of this exhibition, ‘Back to Athens,’ featuring her archival photographs, would have struck a deep chord with her, as she herself departed from and returned to Athens during the junta years and later.
In her youth, Aspa would climb to the top of the Panathenaic Stadium and lie on her back, gazing at the boundless blue of the Attic sky – the only colour she intimately knew, as she once confessed. Today, that very hue forms the backdrop for a collection of staged photographs she created in her studio1 in the late seventies. Some of these images, portraying an armed Panagiotis posing naked and clothed, occasionally accompanied by a faceless nude female figure2, were enlarged and colourised. One of the two photographs depicting the reclining male figure was printed on a tabletop using the photo emulsion method. While these photographs served as preparatory material for works she would exhibit in the eighties and nineties, they possess an inherent expressive power that stands on its own. Today’s presentation, ‘The Carabinieri,’ is titled after Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 film ‘Les Carabiniers,’ which Aspa had extensively studied and considered a primary influence. Accompanying the photographs is the catalogue from the ‘Art in Revolution: Soviet Art and Design since 1917’ exhibition, which Aspa had the opportunity of viewing at London’s Hayward Gallery in 1971. That exhibition undoubtedly left an indelible mark on her artistic vision. In tandem with other influential texts, such as the writings of John Berger, it catalysed a political shift in her work, when she resolved to abandon painting and adopt other media like photography and film to pursue revolution in everyday life.
Aspasia (Aspa) Stasinopoulou was born in Athens in 1935 and died in the summer of 2017.
Translated by Dimitris Saltabassis
Curated by: Christoforos Marinos
1. Shot by her associate, Maria Dara (1946–2000).
2. Probably the artist herself.
The exhibition is presented as part of Back to Athens 11 International Art Meeting | 2024: Crossroads - knowledge and worldly pleasures – a review
Back to Athens 11 International Art Meeting | 2024
Curated by: Georg Georgakopoulos, Fotini Kapiris, Christian Rupp.
Organised by: APART Art Research and Applications. Under the Auspices of the City of Athens. With the financial support and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture [Silence of the Sirenes], Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport, Austrian Embassy Athens, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna akbild, ZOIA, Czech Centre Athens in the frame of “Franz Kafka's memorial year 2024”. Participation, athensintersection, ARTmART. Coordinated by CHEAPART.
Back to Athens 11 International Art Meeting | 2024: Crossroads - knowledge and worldly pleasures
Isaiah Megaron
65 Patision, Athens
Opening date: Wednesday, June 26
Duration: 26 - 30.06.2024
Hours: Wed. – Fri. 16:00 - 22:00, Sat. – Sun. 12:00 – 22:00
