The Greek artist Christodoulos Panayiotou, presents a marble console that on first glance seems to have always belonged to the space of Gallery F 15, yet on closer inspection, ‘bastardo’ is spray-painted on its surface completely altering the material’s intended function. It is an unexpected surprise. Marble has been valued for its elegance since ancient times and has been carried through history as a symbol of luxury. Interestingly, in the process of selecting the stone from the quarry, it is common practice for marble to be identified and marked in such a manner to identify its level of quality.
An additional poetic gesture is presented by Christodoulos Panayiotou as the console is activated through a commissioned vase that will fill with flowers over time. One flower will be added for each day of the exhibition, eventually creating a contrast between beauty and decay as the new flowers are placed together with the faded flowers that will still remain from the first day.
All photos: Vegard KIeven © Punkt Ø
BIOGRAPHY
Christodoulos Panayiotou’s (b. 1978, Limassol, Cyprus) wide-ranging research focuses on the identification and uncovering of hidden narratives in the visual records of history and time. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held (amongst others) at the 56th Venice Biennial, The Cyprus Pavilion; Casa Luis Barragán, Mexico City; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kunsthalle Zürich; Casino Luxembourg; CCA Kitakyushu; Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis; Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig; Centre d’Art Contemporain de Brétigny; and at Point Center of Contemporary Art, Nicosia. His work was also shown in a number of group exhibitions including: the 8th Melle Biennale; the 14th Lyon Biennial; the 13th Sharjah Biennial; dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel; 8th Berlin Biennale; 7th Liverpool Biennial; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museion, Bolzano; Migros Museum, Zürich; CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco; Joan Miro Foundation, Barcelona; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Ashkal Alwan Center for Contemporary Arts, Beirut; Artist Space, New York; MoCA Miami.