Group exhibition of ASFA students at Yannis Tsarouchis Foundation
A collaboration between Yannis Tsarouchis Foundation and the ASFA Career Office
Opening: Thursday, 22 June 2023, 18.00 – 21.00

On Thursday, June 22, the group exhibition of students of the Athens School of Fine Arts (ASFA) will be inaugurated at the Yannis Tsarouchis Foundation, entitled Entering Tsarouchis troup. This is the result of a first and "tentative" collaboration between the Foundation and the ASFA.

The exhibition presents a rich production of works and a variety of visual media: paintings, photographs, videos, installations and other artistic constructions. In their entirety, they draw creative inspiration from both the works of Yannis Tsarouchis and the space itself, as well as from the objects in it. The latter seem to be equally evidence of his artistic entity.

The building in which the Foundation is currently housed was built by Yannis Tsarouchis in 1965 based on his own designs. For many years it was the house where he lived and painted. In 1981 he established the Yannis Tsarouchis Foundation and donated his house, his archive and five thousand of his works to it. For about a month every year he opened his doors to the public, presenting a new exhibition. In 1985, the building was declared a listed building by a decision of the Ministry of Culture and in 2002 it was declared a Historical Monument and Work of Art by the Department of Modern Monuments of the Ministry of Culture.

From October 2022, after an open call to students and graduates of the two departments of the ASFA, the Department of Fine Arts (TET) and the Department of History and Theory of Art (ΘΙΣΤΕ), under the coordination of Assistant Professor Kostas Christopoulos (scientific director of the Career Office and in close cooperation with the Foundation, a cycle of continuous flow of information, knowledge and new “readings” of the work of Yannis Tsarouchis was opened.

Through a series of regular meetings both at the Foundation’s premises and in the workshops of the ASFA, the artists had the opportunity to feel Tsarouchis’s archive, to study his work, to read his writings, to face the multiple manifestations of his talent: his poems, his set designs, his costumes, his paintings and even his tapestries. In some cases, they were even able to work on their works at the Foundation, in the same place where he worked.

With the valuable presence of the President of the Foundation, Niki Gripari, the young artists had the opportunity to get to know “from the inside” aspects of the artist’s character and method. To perceive his endless thirst to learn and perfect any conception.

At the same time, with the constant assistance of the visual artist-theatrologist and head of the Foundation’s educational programs, Vasso Tzouti, the artists entered the process of “talking” with him and finding affinities and divergences with their own work.

This circle was further extended by the ASFA professor Nikos Navridis, who with his experience and contagiousness helped the artists to deepen their work. This group exhibition is the first of a series of actions that are planned to follow in the long term and to integrate us more and more into Tsarouchis Troop. A “teacher”
who was always studying.

Participating :Varsou Lia, Vitalianos Vassilis, Vasilakis Adonis,Georgakopoulos
Nikos, Georgitsi Anastasia, Damouli – Plaini Sophia, Karadima Elina, Kovatseva
Margarita, Koukouli Akrivi, Ladenis Orestis, Mandadakis Dimitris, Markouli Marina,
Balagiannis Christos, Bari Alexandra, Bovolis Marios, Bouritsa Dimitra, Papalou
Savvas, Papantonis Kostas, Pavlidou Depi, Paleologos Nikos, Spyraki Anna,
Strangas Petros, Triviza Zafeiria, Tsoukala Angeliki, Fakinou Andriana, Fragathoula
Natalia, Hileti Eva.

Curated by Nikos Navridis, Kostas Christopoulos
Theoretical support: Matina Tsigakou

Duration of the exhibition: 22 June – 30 September 2023
Monday – Friday, 9:00 – 14:00,
Saturday & Sunday closed. August Closed.