On view from February 17, 2015-April 3, 2015

Anya and Andrew Shiva Gallery

Curated by Dr. Thalia Vrachopoulos 

The title of this show is inspired by W. Somerset Maugham’s 1915 novel much of which is autobiographical and in turn, was based on Part IV of Spinoza’s Ethics. Also subtitled Strength of Emotions it is about humanity’s lack of control that can result in a type of enslavement. Perhaps the most destructive of these emotions is the drive for profit which is to a large extent responsible for people’s inhumanity to each other.

Exploitation occurs in multiple ways and in a variety of different industries, this exhibition highlights one small part of that experience, which is exploitation within the sex trade. It is a basic human rights violation that results in the commodification of humans. The victims can span all ages and gender identities orphaned, runaways, and others marginalized by poverty, documentation status, and structural inequity.

Individuals who are exploited through force, fraud and coercion in the sex industry are just one small part of the larger portrait of global inequity. Structural forces such as documentation issues, racial and ethnic barriers, discrimination against trans* and gender non-conforming individuals, and the many ways people face criminalization and poverty make individuals vulnerable to exploitative situations. Trafficking occurs when another exploits those vulnerabilities, whether through the sex trade or other industries. Even within the course of one person’s experience, they may move through multiple trafficking situations in domestic work, factory labor, hospitality, or agriculture.

The five artists in this show Steven Cavallo, Eleni Lyra, Yiannis Christakos, Angelo Gavrias and Photini Papahatzi explore their feelings on the subject of trafficking into the sex trade. Some of their works deal directly with the subject as do Cavallo’s, Gavrias’ or Papahatzi’s while others comment on the topic in a subtler more abstract way as do Christakos and Lyras. Steven Cavallo began his research into the subject of Comfort Women forced into sexual slavery during WWII in Korea by Japanese soldiers. He portrays women in a series of watercolor portraits with battered faces on torn and burnt paper, mounted on burlap. They are suspended in midair as if saying “We have no place to rest our feet” a quote from a former comfort woman who to this day has no promise in her future but who instead is forced to drift through life. In his latest paintings he focuses on human trafficking today and claims that “the method of abduction has not changed much, since the days of 1942 nor have the stigma attached, the struggle to re-enter society, the lies told, the lives destroyed, and the families affected.” more

To project “Interior-ity” (Εσωτερικότητα) ανήκει στα special projects της 4ης Μπιενάλε Σύγχρονης Τέχνης της Μόσχας.

Το special project “Interior-ity” (Εσωτερικότητα) παρουσιάζει μια μελέτη από ένα σύνολο δυνατοτήτων που ορίζουν τα "έργα τέχνης", χρησιμοποιώντας πολλαπλές προοπτικές που προσφέρονται από τους συμμετέχοντες καλλιτέχνες. Στο πλαίσιο αυτής της έκθεσης, η ίδια η πράξη της δημιουργίας παραπέμπει σε μια σειρά από διαδικασίες οι οποίες εκφράζουν την εσωτερική ζωή ενός καλλιτέχνη, αντανακλά την εσωτερική όψη του κόσμου της τέχνης, και εξετάζει τις εσωτερικές διαρρυθμίσεις των κοινωνικών χώρων. Οι καλλιτέχνες της έκθεσης συλλογίζονται πώς αυτές οι διαδικασίες, οι οποίες εμφανίζονται γενικά μέσα στον κόσμο τέχνης και εκτός του λόγου της δημόσιας σφαίρας γενικότερα, κωδικοποιούν τη σημασία του αυτό που αντιλαμβανόμαστε ως τέχνη.

Στο special project “Interior-ity” συμμετέχουν 31 καλλιτέχνες από 10 διαφορετικές χώρες και παρουσιάζεται στον χώρο PROEKT_FABRIKA . Από την Ελλάδα συμμετέχει η Φωτεινή Παπαχατζή με βίντεο και φωτογραφίες από το πρότζεκτ ‘Elevador Lacerda’. Στο πλαίσιο της έκθεσης η Φωτεινή Παπαχατζή θα παρουσιάσει ένα εργαστήριο πάνω στον ρόλο των νέων media και στις επιλογές του φωτογράφου στην διάρκεια της εξέλιξης μιας ιδέας, με άξονα το project ‘Elevador Lacerda’.

Στο special project “Interior-ity” συμμετέχουν:

Oleg Arnautov (Russia), Katherine Behar (USA), Andrey Blazhnov (Russia), Igor Chirkin & Alexey Podkidishev (Russia), Chanzanka (Ben Chang, Rodger Ruzanka, Silvia Ruzanka) (USA), Cantyouseeimbusy.com (Maarten Vrouwes, Friso Ludenhoff, Eric Holm, Vincent Ludenhoff) (Netherlands), Polina Dronyaeva (Russia), Evgenia Dolinina (Russia), Tatiana Daniliyants (Russia), Constant Dullaart (Netherlands), Galina Emelina (Russia), Kirill Gluschenko (Russia), Sarah Hahn (USA), Maxim Ilyukhin (Russia), Katherine Kuznetcowa & Alexander Edisherov (Germany), Michael Kargl (Austria), Elena Savina & Kristin Leklan (Russia – France), Taus Makhacheva (Russia), Doreen Maloney (USA), Mariusz Soltysik (Poland), Molleindustria (Paolo Pedercini) (USA, Italy), Photini Papahatzi (Greece), Yana Smetanina (Russia), Andrew Sempere (USA), Woody Sullander (USA), Dmitry “Dima” Strakovsky (USA), Alexander Senko (Russia), Alexandеr Vorohob (Russia), E.W. Walters (Poland), Vagner Whitehead (USA, Brazil), Natalia Zintsova (Russia), Katherine Zabiyakina (Russia)

Η έκθεση θα διαρκέσει μέχρι τις 30 Οκτωβρίου 2011 . Περισσότερες πληροφορίες στο http://www.proektfabrika.ru/