Stefanos Tsivopoulos
dal 10/9/2010 al 23/10/2010
Segnalato da
Simon van Cleeff - SMART Project Space
10/9/2010
Stefanos Tsivopoulos
Smart Project Space, Amsterdam
The Real The Story The Storyteller. Often based upon archival research, found footage and photo archives, artist's work investigates how collective memory is shaped by mediated reality. The statue of American president Harry S. Truman, located in downtown Athens, is the focal point of Tsivopoulos' installation Lost Monument (2009). It consists of archival photographs, film footage, and a single channel video. Several other works are included in the exhibition.
SMART Project Space presents The Real The Story The Storyteller, the first solo exhibition in The Netherlands by Stefanos Tsivopoulos (Greece, 1973). Tsivopoulos is internationally recognized for his poetic films with allegoric undertone. Often based upon archival research, found footage and photo archives, his work investigates how collective memory is shaped by mediated reality.
The statue of American president Harry S. Truman, located in downtown Athens, is the focal point of Tsivopoulos’ installation Lost Monument (2009). Since its erection in 1963 commemorating the Truman Doctrine, the statue has been toppled and damaged at least four times. Because it was Truman’s intervention that decided the outcome of the Greek civil war, the statue is a favourite target for citizens wishing to express their opposition to the very idea of placing a statue with these connotations in their capital city. Lost Monument consists of archival photographs, film footage, and a single channel video. Multiple scenes tell the story of the Truman statue and the different meanings attributed to it. It re-appears in various settings where the individuals involved have no knowledge of its history.
Several other works are included in the exhibition. Untitled (In Plato’s Cave) (2008) reflects upon propaganda and war film reportage. Untitled (The Remake) (2007), turns to archival material from the period of Greek dictatorship and the early years of Greek State Television. The installation The Interview (2007) centres on documentary footage of an English journalist interviewing a Serb veteran. In their own way, these works reveil the production mechanisms of mass media’s visual language, whereby Tsivopoulos doesn’t fail to show links between the past and the present, heightening our awareness of the mediated constructions of reality.
The exhibition is accompanied by a new edition of SMART Papers. Tsivopoulos’s earlier video piece Land will be screened in SMART Cinema throughout the month of September as a trailer to the main feature film.
Stefanos Tsivopoulos is an artist who lives and works in Amsterdam. He has had solo shows in Heidelberg Kunstverein (2010), Art Forum, Berlin (2009), Museum for Contemporary Art , Belgrade (2008) and his work has been shown at renowned venues such as Centre Pompidou, Paris; the BFI Southbank, London; the Athens Biennial; Friedericianum Kunstverein, Kassel; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Pratt Institute, New York; ev+a Biennial, Limerick; Sammlung Essl, Vienna. His work is currently included in Manifesta 8, Murcia, Spain.
SMART Project Space is kindly supported by: Mondriaan Foundation; Municipality Amsterdam; Bureau Broedplaatsen; Stichting DOEN; The Netherlands Film Fund; Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds; VSBfonds; Amsterdam Fund for the Arts; Fund for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture; Performing Arts Fund NL; Youth in Action programme; sponsored by Flexa.
Editorial note | For interviews, more information, video and photo material, please contact our press and publicity officer Simon van Cleeff, Tel +31 (0)20 427 59 51 or e-mail simon@smartprojectspace.net
Opening: Saturday 11 September, 21.00 hrs
SMART Project Space
Arie Biemondstraat 111, Amsterdam
Open: Mon-Sat 12.00 – 22.00 hrs, Sun from 14.00 hrs
Admission free