Kappatos Athens Art Residency presents the spring cycle of the first official residency programme in Athens under the Auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, supported by a European fund (NSRF: National Strategic Reference Framework 2007 - 2013) and the first solo exhibition of the Spanish artist Santiago Sierra, curated by the programme’s artistic director Dr. Sozita Goudouna. Sierra’s residency includes the following projects:
“THE TRILOGY OF PIGS EATING PENINSULAS” Santiago Sierra Solo exhibition at Kappatos Athens Art Residency, Thursday 28 May - 27 June 2015
Film Screening of Santiago Sierra’s “NO, Global Tour” at Mikrokosmos cinema, Friday 29 May, 9:30 pm
Santiago Sierra Lecture at Athens Fine Arts School, De Chirico Auditorium, Wednesday 27 May, 12:00 pm
“ATHENS STRAY DOGS PROJECT” A series of actions by Santiago Sierra at the public sphere of Athens 26 May - 10 June 2015
Santiago Sierra was born in Madrid in 1966, where he currently lives. He studied visual arts in Mexico City, Madrid and Hamburg, amongst others with Franz Erhard Walther. Since the mid nineties Sierra realizes a large number of projects, offensively addressing repression and exploitation as he meets them in different parts of the world.
Sierra’s work stems from a critical reconsideration of minimalism, with a performative sculptural practice as the core of his engagement, accompanied by photographs, videos and films. Some of his most remarkable and controversial projects originate from collaborations with institutions such as Magasin3 Stockholm Konsthall (2009), Kestnergesellschaft Hannover (2005) and Kunsthaus Bregenz (2004). In his work Santiago Sierra often addresses structures of power that operate in our everyday existence. Sierra’s work intervenes into these structures exposing situations of exploitation and marginalisation, famously hiring underprivileged individuals who, in exchange for money are willing to undertake pointless or unpleasant tasks. Sierra’s work never repeats reality, but challenges it exposing its intrinsic mechanisms.
The essence of the work is often in the tension generated and sustained between the event or its documentation and the spectator, who is exposed to what can be described as the formal and poetic articulation fo the voice of those who are normally marginalised or disenfranchised.
The work of Santiago Sierra has been exhibited and is included in collections from important art institutions, such as the Kiasma - Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt/Main, Tate Britain, Moma PS1 in New York, Reykjavik Art Museum, ARTIUM, Vitoria - Gasteiz, Museo MADRE, Biennale | Kochi-Muziris in India and the national Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
The works featured in Santiago Sierra’s exhibition at Kappatos Athens Art Residency are part of the series Pigs Devouring the Hellenic, Italic and Iberian Peninsulas. These images are the result of a series of performances which begun in 2012 in Hamburg, where the pigs had “devoured” the Hellenic Peninsula; then in Luca, the Italic Peninsula; and finally in Milan, the Iberian Peninsula. Sierra is using a clear metaphor to denounce that the European financial entities are literally eating real territories.
During his stay in Athens, the artist is also creating a new piece entitled “Athens Stray Dogs Project” that takes place in the public sphere of the center of Athens. The work is dedicated to the stray dogs Kanellos and Loukanikos that stood by the side of the Athenian demonstrators.
Exhibition Dates: 28 May - 27 June 2015
Exhibition Opening: Thursday 28 May, 8 - 11 pm
Visiting Hours: Tuesday - Friday 12 - 8 pm & Saturday 12 - 4 pm