Description: By referring to the conceptual construction of the definition 'masculinity', the group exhibition "ANDRAS" presented in the exhibition space Cheapart.Halandri the unified work of seven artists, having the body of a visual and performance artist, alongside its image, as the basic material for creation. In its initial format, this project originated form the collaborative actions led by Manuel Vason, as formulated in their meeting with PASHIAS, during the 3rd Thessaloniki Performance Festival / 4th Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2013. The other six participating artists, each coming from his own field of practice, such as architecture and photography, have been invited to formulate their personal pattern of perception towards a male body that carries its own 'history' as a social construct, shaped by the suppositions and expectations requested to fulfill. The way in which this entity is confronted and 'handled', from one man to another, can be seen as a reflection of the ways in which each artist perceives his own 'masculinity'. In the attempt to merge diverse practices with the art of performance, the body in live action is now presented as an 'event'. The monumentality of the male body, based on its image as a symbol of dynamic activity, comes in contact with its ephemeral reality, when it becomes translated through the prism of an external receiver. The process of perception appears as an intervening activity onto the corporeal and conceptual constitution of the body, exhibiting the 'signs' that it has inscribed upon it. By examining the value of collaboration, as each artwork has been distanced from its 'sole' creator, the exhibition "ANDRAS" proposes artistic activity as a common and participative process, from the artist towards the audience, from a single unit towards a social ensemble.
ANDRAS
Group exhibition / Cheapart.Halandri / Athens - GR / October + November - 2014
Curation: PASHIAS
Artists: Giorgos Gerontides, GRAAM, Idan Bitton, Manuel Vason, Michel Lamoller, Stefanos Varnava, Theoklitos Triantafyllidis
Photo: PASHIAS, Collaborative action led by Manuel Vason