Yorgos Taxiarchopoulos | MY NATIVE LAND IS HUMAN

Exhibition duration: June 10th – July 9th, 2011
Exhibition Hours: Mon - Fri, 2-9 pm; Sat 2-6 pm

Beton7 presents the work of  Yorgos Taxiarchopoulos, My Native land is Human, which won an international prize ten years ago (2001) in its first presentation at GERMINATION13 but is still nowadays very much up-to-date.

The show entails the 10 year progress of the artist’s initial idea together with a Hermetic text written by the philosopher Proklos and a video installation created in 2011.

The interactive video-installation work brings the viewer face-to-face with the eternal question of existence, and reconstructs by means of contemporary technology the ancient myth of Narcissus.

It was first exhibited in Paris in 2001-2002, where it won the 8^th LVMH prix international, and was consequently presented in 2003 in Athens, at the Spyropoulos Foundation Awards (it won the 1^st prize 2002).

“A pioneering work when it was initially shown, it appears very much to the point today, since in our days, more than ever, human dignity is under threat”, says Taxiarchopoulos. In his view, only introspection can contribute to the creation of a new collective conscience, a new kind of respect. The artist invites the audience to participate in and interact with his work, proposing ways in which it is possible to bring the aforementioned elements forth through honest individual effort and self-respect.   

Yorgos Taxiarchopoulos was born in Athens in 1972, where he lives and works since 2008. His work have been awarded in Greece and abroad and exhibited in major museums in Europe like the National museum of contemporary art Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Spanish Cinemateque, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. In 2002 he received the 8th International Award from Louis Vuitton for young artists and at the same year he received the first award of the Foundation Spiropoulos. He had three solo shows in Greece and in Thessaloniki he works with Lola Nikolaou Gallery. He studied at the School of Fine Arts painting, graduating with honours (2003) and at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris with a scholarship (2001-2002). He obtained his master's degree in "digital arts" at ASFA in 2007. Then he was selected to participate in Japan at the international research program of the Center for Contemporary Art in Kitakyushu as a scholar by the Japanese Institute and the Goulandris Foundation in Athens. In 2007 he was also a candidate to represent Greece at the 52nd Venice Biennale with the work of 10¨. He is a doctoral student in “Art Education” at ASFA and has been the founder and director of several innovative art workshops for children and adults in the public and private sectors. Now he is a partner of the Athens School of Fine Arts and the art director of the art workshops at the Cultural Center of the Municipality in Petroupoli. In the last 5 years he also serves as the Art Logistics Manager of the Art-Athina, the annual international art fair of contemporary art organised by the Hellenic Gallery Association, PSAT in Athens. His works belong in private and public collections in Greece and abroad.