Lecture: Eleni Stathopoulou - The Geometry of Colors

On the occasion of Eleni Stathopoulou's retrospective exhibition held by the National Library of Greece, in partnership with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, October sees the launch of a lecture series exploring the work and times of the artist, in the context of this first retrospective presentation, which aims to make her work more widely known. 

Spyros Moschonas, Eleni Stathopoulou: In the repositories of Oblivion

Eleni Stathopoulou, that dynamic painter, one of the pioneers of abstract art in Greece, and a woman with an active presence on the domestic art scene during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, has come to be almost forgotten in our day. Her work is buried ...in the repositories of oblivion. 

The lecture by Spyros Moschonas, the exhibition's curator, will attempt to give a broad and encompassing picture of Eleni Stathopoulou's creative output, starting from her first attempts at painting during her time at the School of Fine Art, then on to Paris and Andre Lhote's studio, and ultimately in Athens. He will show her paintings of the Aegean islands, and discuss her shift towards abstract art and her fascination with the landscape of Sifnos, which defines the entirety of her late work. The aim is to illuminate her overall creative output, as well as Stathopoulou's contribution to Greek post-war art. 

Konstantina Dakolia, Eleni Stathopoulou at the Papastrateios Vocational School of Decorative Arts (1955-1972)  

Following on from Spyros Moschonas' presentation of the art of Eleni Stathopoulou, Konstantina Dakolia, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Athens School if Fine Art, will give a detailed account of the painter's academic activity and her crucial impact on the development of her students at the Papastrateios Vocational School of Decorative Arts. 

Eleni Stathopoulou dedicated a large part of her life to the Papastrateios Vocational School of Decorative Arts, where she was appointed in 1955, a few years after her return from Paris (1949). Alongside her personal work as an artist, she taught the children drawing for seventeen consecutive years, right up to her retirement (1972). Her long and fertile presence at the Papastrateios School resulted in awards for her students, in competitions both in Greece and abroad. The artist's notes, held in her archives, and the photographs from the archives of the Papastrateios School reveal the demanding work that the students were expected to complete, with the help of their tutors. Despite following a different path in her own work, Stathopoulou remained faithful to the School's mission statement and its needs: to provide a fully rounded education to the students, in order to prepare them for employment in workshops and factories upon their graduation. 

Spyros Moschonas was born in Patra in 1979. He holds a PhD in History of Art from the University of Athens. His doctoral dissertation is titled "Art Union and art groups in Greece during the first half on the 20th century: their meaning and contribution" (Athens, 2010). His research interests focus on modern Greek ecclesiastical art, matters of art and market, and the relationship between the State and visual artists. His work has been published in Greek scientific journals, conference minutes, anthologies and exhibition catalogues. He has worked with several organizations (Bank of Greece, Athens School of Fine Art, Piraeus Bank, University of Athens, etc) in recording and studying artwork collections, as well as with numerous Museums and Galleries (National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Benaki Museum, etc) in organizing exhibitions. He has taught at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Panteion University, and is an associate lecturer at the Greek Open University. 

Konstantina Dakolia is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Athens School of Fine Art, where she takes part in the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation research program "Helping the Revolution, supporting the creation of the Greek state. From the unknown stories of 1921". She recently completed her postdoctoral research "Representations of Defeat: the Greco-Turkish  War of 1897. Paintings-Memorials of the Fallen" (Athens, 2019). She undertook her doctoral thesis, "The contribution of Amedeo Modigliani's sculpture in his painting: Caryatides and female nudes" (Athens, 2016), at the Athens School of Philosophy. She has taken part in conferences and international conventions, and has taught History of Art. She works in documenting artwork collections and curating exhibitions, and her work has been published in anthologies and exhibition catalogues. 

Wednesday 21/10, 19.00
LIGHTHOUSE

Free admission by online preregistration
Pregistration starts on Friday 16/10 at 09.00.

Simultaneous translation into the Greek Sign Language will be provided.

SNFCC Members enjoy exclusive seats.

Mandatory use of mask throughout the lecture.

FInd out more about the safety measures for the protection of visitors & employees here.