TERRAPOLIS
group exhibition with Eleni Kamma
curated by Iwona Blazwick, Director Whitechapel Gallery
27/05 – 26/07/2015
Preview Tuesday 26/05/2015
École Française d’Athènes, Athens, Greece
Eleni Kamma will present newly commissioned work at the group exhibition TERRAPOLIS, a collaboration between NEON and the Whitechapel Gallery, opening on the 26th of May 2015 at the École Française d’Athènes in Athens, Greece. In her new work, Kamma revives the Renaissance wunderkammer presenting her own cabinet of curiosities of organic forms fused with the cultural world of contemporary Athens.
NEON and the Whitechapel Gallery work together to present this group exhibition, the second collaboration in Athens between the two organizations following the presentation of ‘A Thousand Doors’ at The Gennadius Library in 2014. TERRAPOLIS is curated by Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, in collaboration with NEON, a non-profit organization based in Athens that works to widen access to contemporary art. The presentation takes place at École Française d’Athènes, a public scientific and cultural institution that promotes the study of Hellenism.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a dedicated publication, educational programs, screenings of historical films in an open-air cinema within the School and guided tours. Access to the exhibition is free.
Concept
Terrapolis, a term proposed by science philosopher Donna Haraway, combines the Latin ‘terra’ for earth, with the Greek ‘polis’ for city or citizens. The show asks: should we regard animals as citizens? How do processes of nature, such as metamorphoses relate to the creation of art? How do mythic narratives resonate in contemporary society? And can we recalibrate our relationship with other species? Echoing the satyrs, sphinxes and centaurs of Greek statuary, contemporary sculptures, installations and films draw on myth, drama and the animal kingdom to suggest a ‘bioethics’ for the 21st century.
Participants
Artists include: Caroline Achaintre, Allora & Calzadilla, Francis Alÿs, Athanasios Argianas, Joseph Beuys, Huma Bhabha, Reg Butler, Lynn Chadwick, Marcus Coates, William Cobbing, Enrico David, Charlotte Dumas, Angus Fairhurst, Studio Ghibli, Tue Greenfort, Asta Gröting, Henrik Håkansson, Anthea Hamilton & Nicholas Byrne, Joan Jonas, Eleni Kamma, Markus Karstieß, Dionisis Kavallieratos, Yayoi Kusama, Oliver Laric, Richard Long, Sarah Lucas, Ruth Maclennan, Chris Marker, Marlie Mul, Katja Novitskova, Anatoly Osmolovsky, Aliki Palaska, Norbert Prangenberg, Ugo Rondinone, Kostas Sahpazis, Peter Wächtler.
New commissions are specially made by: Athanasios Argianas, Eleni Kamma, Dionisis Kavallieratos, Aliki Palaska, Kostas Sahpazis.
More information
Press release Whitechapel Gallery
Press release NEON