Mai Ueda Domain Perfomance

Mai Ueda reads a domain poem at Mediamatic, Amsterdam, April 2006

The destruction of architecture

Xenia Hotel year 2006

While I was in Trikala this weekend, I took my car and I visited the abandoned hotel of Xenia in the town of Kalambaka. I was curious to see it because it is famous and designed by architect Aris Konstantinides. It took me a lot of time to find the deserted and seriously "wounded" building on the edge of the town. The uncontroled greenery that surrounds the building makes almost impossible to trace it from the outside. Hotel Xenia was built in the early 60's in one of the most beautiful locations of Greece, facing the Meteora rocks. It has been published in numerous publications around the world as a good example of modernist architecture in Greece. I took a short stroll inside the hotel and the courtyard, took these photos and I left with a sad feeling. Leaving Kalambaka and driving back to Trikala, I watched around the other hotels in the area and I unfortunately faced what's the current taste of architecture. Is Xenia Hotel gonna have a similar future as any other modernist building in this country? Will it be demolished or badly renovated?

Art in Trikala

a view from my piece the Neenstar Portraits

I just got back from my trip in Trikala for the opening of the exhibition "An Outing" The Beltsios Collection. The exhibition takes place at Milos and it will be on until the end of July.

Our opening at Rebecca Camhi

Priscilla and Miltos

Rebecca, myself, Andreas

Milena with Rebecca 

Martiniano with Sophia

Andreas and Nadia
Athina in the Philosophy bench

Ioanna with Eleanna 

Rallou Panagiotou

Bizzare sculptures

I couldn't help not taking photos of these super-bizzare sculptures somewhere between Helioupolis and Kareas in Athens these days.

Camh-ere this Thursday

The new Neen emblem

A quick reminder for our show at Rebecca Camhi gallery (temporary space) on Konstantinoupoleos 44, this Thursday at 8pm (25th of May) For more info +30 694 732511

My new shoes

I found this pair of vintage shoes. Source undisclosed.

Trikala is Wi-Fi-ed everywhere!

The facade of the Milos space where the Beltsios collection will be exhibited

Yesterday on Attiki Odos:

This could have been the scariest moment of my life [....] but check here few meters further.

Maria Papadimitriou: Larger than Life

a photo from the TAMA catalogue

Dummies 1996 (courtesy: Beltsios Collection)

Maria Papadimitriou is a greek artist and a friend. One of her known projects is TAMA, an ongoing collective project on the nature of nomadism which involves a settlement of gypsies in an abandoned area of Athens. Due to her fantastic speech in a discussion forum last Saturday I think I owe her a post in this blog big time! The topic of the discussion was how an art-fair should be and how it can function in a city like Athens. Maria described her personal experience with the Greek reality in the most enlightening and engaging way.

Future betrayed us

Back in the 70's some studies were made for the creation of space colonies housing 10,000 people.
( source: Make Blog and Nasa website)

Blogebrity: Perez Hilton

Perez Hilton(right) with Amnesia Sparkles

Which website is Hollywood's most hated?PerezHilton.Com!...mmm not really anymore, it is simply the new source for A-list Hollywood gossip. Perez Hilton aka Mario Lavandeira has his "headquarters" at the Coffee Bean (on the corner of Fairfax and Sunset), the "office" as he often refers to it. Since his blog became a hit all over America, celebrities are rushing to the west Hollywood "office" just to claim their own spot on celebrity.

Motto of the Day

Happiness will be our revenge
(photo taken by Andreas Angelidakis in Metaxourgeio)

Corona Issue No1

Corona Magazine is a new magazine made by artists Naotaka Hiro and Sid M. Duenas.

Marissa Nadler

Marissa Nadler perfoming at the Small Music Theatre in Athens

Last night I went to the Small Music Theatre to see the perfomance of Marissa Nadler. The cute little space was unexpectedly packed. Nadler came out around 11 after 2 other performances. I liked her perfomance a lot but I missed the finale 'cos I was gasping for fresh air- the place was fully packed by heavy smockers. As Wikipedia describes her "Nadler is an American folk musician and fine artist She is often categorised as a member of the "New Weird America" movement, a notion she rejects: "I really dislike that whole brand of the New Weird America because I think a lot of these artists don't have anything to do with each other, except that they're from America and are playing interesting music that's not part of the mainstream. More accurate would be to describe Nadler as a balladeer with American Gothic leanings." Visit her home page here

The art of the 70's in Greece at EMST

Chryssa Voudouroglou

Bia Davou

Constantin Xenakis

Chryssa Romanou

Chryssa Voudouroglou

Yesterday I visited the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens. It was the last day of the "The Years of Defiance:The art of the 70's in Greece" so I rushed to go and see it. The exhibition traces the 70's years of social and political unrest; a decade in which the Greek reality was called into question and transformed, but also influenced artistic activity. I attach some photos of the artists Chryssa Romanou, Chryssa Voudouroglou and Bia Davou. (more info here)

Experimental Jetset

Experimental Jetset is a group of designers based in Holland. They are having a show at London's Kemistry Gallery. They show a selection of posters created over a 10 year period of time, featuring the one they did for the Neen manifesto.
Experimental Jetset was founded in 1997 by Marieke Stolk, Danny van den Dungen and Erwin Brinkers: its main focus is installation work and printed matter.
Influences range from early modernism to contemporary subcultural movements (De Stijl, Punk, Situationist International, Concrete Poetry, Psychedelic Pop, Provo, etc.), and are in evidence conceptually rather than formally. In form, their work refers to the aesthetic language of late modernism, a language that the members of Experimental Jetset regard as their mother tongue.
(links: Manifesto, Experimental Jetset)

Rebecca Camhi Gallery comeback

On the 25th of May I will be participating in a group show with Andreas Angelidakis and Miltos Manetas at Rebecca Camhi gallery. The gallery will operate again at a temporary space located in Gazi (Konstantinoupoleos 44). The show will run until the 30th of June 2006.

Immigrants and the US of "AMERICANS"

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters skipped work, school and shopping yesterday and marched in dozens of cities from coast to coast. Their reason: loosening the USA's laws on immigration. Here above a photo from a Los Angeles protester (source Boing Boing)

Much Better Than This

If you happen to be in Amsterdam, artist Rafael Rozendaal is showing his latest piece MuchBetterThanThis.Com at Stedelijk museum's restaurant Club 11. More info about Rafael here newrafael.com