Lydia Dambassina’s exhibition, presented by the City of Athens, in the context of Athens City Festival, from 25 May to 16 July 2023, deals with topics such as the environment, the economic inequality, the religious fanaticism, and love.
The exhibition, titled “Lorem Ipsum”, is organized by the City of Athens Culture, Sports and Youth Organization and features new as well as earlier works – photographs, sculptures, installations and video projections – of the artist.
The centrepiece is an imposing installation with three suspended oak-branch crosses. The accompanying video, shot on the island of Kea in 2021, shows the same crosses swaying under the moonlight to the sound of splashing waves. The viewer might see here a purely religious theme, but the artist alludes to the revolutionary symbolism of Rigas Feraios’s flag (freedom, equality, brotherhood) and the aesthetics of subversion.
As the three-cross installation indicates, Dambassina’s show raises socio-political issues and, in this respect, it can be consider a political exhibition. The artist aims to raise awareness in viewers and restore the lost faith in humanity, in love, in nature, in the power of individual and collective protest.
Indeed, with this exhibition, Dambassina critiques the abuse of nature and women–everything that disturbs and angers her. At the same time, she talks about what makes her feel passionate and concerned. The title of the exhibition is also a form of protest. The term Lorem Ipsum denotes placeholder text used in graphic design and typography. It is an ephemeral text to be replaced. The artist deliberately opts for an exhibition title devoid of meaning to discourage a superficial and restrictive curatorial concept.
Exhibition curator: Christoforos Marinos, Art Historian
The opening of the exhibition will take place on 25 May, from 18:00 to 22:00.
www.opanda.gr