MASQUERADES: FEMININITY, MASCULINITY
AND OTHER CERTAINTIES
December 6th - February 4th 2007
PROLONGATION OF THE EXHIBITION UNTIL FEBRUARY 18TH 2007

The exhibition titled Masquerades: Femininity, masculinity and other certainties, organized by the State Museum of Contemporary Art, examines the notion of masquerade as an alternative way of capturing, comprehending and portraying modern sexual identities, especially in a time that questions absolute distinctions. The exhibition will be held at Moni Lazariston from December 6th until February 4th and the official opening is scheduled for December 6th at 20:00. Representations regarding mythological, religious and historical symbolisms reveal contemporary social inequalities and various forms that exploit sexual discrimination in society.
The exhibition aims to uncover the various folds of the process of self-assessment in the imperceptible areas of masculinity and femininity in contemporary Greek art, as well as to present alternative means of presenting today’s world-wide discourse on the sexes which has inspired a number of high-quality contemporary works of art. In this context, 35 contemporary artists will express the relationship between sexual identities and transformation, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, commercialization as well as other current and diachronic forms of social injustice through the conjunction of various means of expression (painting, photography, sculpture, video, installations, performance, body-art).

The artists that will be presenting their work are: Dimitris Antonitsis/ Evangelia Basdeki/ Savvas Christodoulidis / Elli Chryssidou/ Georgia Damopoulou/ Achilleas Droungas/ Nikos Gavropoulos/ Effie Halivopoulou/ Nikos Charalambidis/ Mark Hatzipateras/ Lizie Kalliga/ Niki Kanagini/ Kyriakos Katzourakis/ Maria Klonari/ Sophia Kosmaoglou/ Eleni Lyra/ Tasos Mantzavinos/ Caroline May/ Despina Meimaroglou/ Eleni Milona/ Aggelos Papadimitriou/ Lida Papakonstantinou/ Alexandros Psyhoulis/ Loukas Samaras/ Fani Sofologi/ Athena Tacha/ Eleni Theofylaktou/ Katerina Thomadaki/ Nikos Triantafillou/ Philippe Tsiaras/ Vivi Tsionga/ Dimitris Tzamouranis/ Dimitris Xonoglou/ Kostis Georgiou/ Katerina Zacharopoulou.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of parallel events with thematic round-table discussions that will be open to the public. The first of these, artist Kyriakos Katzourakis, The way to the West will be screened on Wednesday, December 20th at the Thessaloniki Museum of Cinema at Warehouse A of the Port of Thessaloniki. Following the film’s screening will be a discussion on art and immigration with the participation of assistant professor of the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly, Ioanna Laliotou.
On Wednesday, January 17th, artist Effie Halivopoulou and author Soti Triantafyllou will present the book “Body Stories” (Athens Voice Publications).
Despina Meimaroglou will present her photography series titled “Fairyland – gender identities in art” on Wednesday, January 24th, in collaboration with assistant professor of the Department of Social Anthropology and History of the Aegean University, Kostas Yannakopoulos. The parallel events will close with the discussion titled “Icons of the gendered body in art, history and cinema” on Saturday, February 3rd. Associate professor of Art History at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Efthimia Yeorgiadou-Koundoura, will speak about “Gender transgression in female surrealist artists”. Stratos Nanoglou, professor at the University of Thessaly, will discuss about “Sexual identities in prehistoric art”. Art historian Syrago Tsiara, will talk about “The body in oriental art”, and director Antuanetta Aggelidi will present excerpts from her films and explain the ways that she approaches the subject in her work. The three last events will take place at the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Moni Lazariston.

The Art historian of the State Museum of Contemporary Art and curator of the exhibition, Syrago Tsiara mentioned that: “In an age that questions clear distinctions, art searches for new ways to comprehend and visualize sexual identities and the social constructs that shape the differences among the sexes. The notion of masquerade comprises an alternative means of capturing, understanding and representing the biological differences as well as the social roles that are associated with the distinction of the sexes in the formation of subjectivity. Through masquerade, the artists “dress” themselves in their sex, they exhibit, question, deconstruct, reject or enforce the stereotypes regarding male and female, while reassessing the conventional forms of comprehending the differences and transforming the body into an open space that portrays multiple, intersecting images and messages”. Mrs. Tsiara added that, “gender and its archetype characteristics often stimulate profound social and historical assessments of sexual identities. Mythological, religious and historical representations reveal the contemporary forms of social inequalities and exploitation related to sexual discrimination”.

The Director of the State Museum of Contemporary Art, Maria Tsantsanoglou mentioned that, “Art has the ability to raise contemporary social issues and speculation; to be bold and provide viewers with a reassessment of the image, particularly today with the relentless bombardment of images which hinders our ability to grasp and comprehend them. This exhibition accentuates a personal as well as social issue: an esoteric issue regarding the need to explore the boundaries of sexual identity and an extrovert issue with respect to the need to demonstrate a delimitated sexual behavior. I believe that this exhibition concerns everyone. It’s an exhibition that is bold enough to underline that social stereotypes often create social inequalities, through the presentation of important works of contemporary Greek art that transgress the conventional conceptions of gender”.

The President of the State Museum of Contemporary Art, George Tsaras said that: “In its ongoing endeavor to contribute to culture and contemporary social issues, the Museum provides Greek artists with an increasing number of avenues to present their work. Throughout time, the speculation on gender is a topic that has captivated political sciences and art in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, although it’s more current than ever, today there is an increasing number of cases of discrimination, violations of basic human rights and extreme racism. Furthermore, it’s worth mentioning that the exhibition provides the Museum’s permanent collaborators with the grounds to independently materialize their personal artistic propositions for the first time”.


Publicity Sponsors: ERT3 – 9,58 – 102FM

INFO
STATE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Kolokotroni 21 – Moni Lazariston, 56430, Thessaloniki
Exhibition “Masquerade: Femininity, Masculinity and other certainties”
Exhibition duration: December 6th 2006 – February 4th 2007
Exhibition space: Moni Lazariston
Exhibition opening: December 6th, 20:00, Moni Lazariston

Parallel events / Discussions
Wednesday, December 20th 2006, Thessaloniki Museum of Cinema
Screening of the film “The way to the West”. Discussion on art and immigration with Kyriakos Katzourakis and Ioanna Laliotou.
Wednesday, January 17th 2007, S.M.C.A Moni Lazariston
Book presentation “Body Stories” (Athens Voice Publications) with Soti Triantafyllou and Effie Halivopoulou.
Wednesday, January 24th 2007, Moni Lazariston
Photography series “Fairyland – sexual identities in art” by Despina Meimaroglou in collaboration with Kostas Yannakopoulos
Saturday, February 3rd 2007, Moni Lazariston
Thematic discussion: “Gender images of the body in art, history and cinema”.

Information for the public:
S.M.C.A. Moni Lazariston Tel: 2310 589140-143
www.greekstatemuseum.com
info@greekstatemuseum.com

Department of Promotion and Communication
Tel: 2310 589152, Φ.2310 589210
press@greekstatemuseum.com