The New York Times notes the increasing popularity of Athens as a destination for artists in the wake of the country’s financial hardships, noting the increased affordability of studios and opportunities to show work in the city while commenting on the complex financial exchanges the country is currently involved in.  “I realized it would be much more useful to have an artistic platform in a city like Athens than another European city,” says Greek curator Iliana Fokianaki. “The crisis kind of boosted our energy to do more things, rather than flee the country.” (more…)

Ugo Rondinone – Nude (2012), Cycladic Art Museum

Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone has built a reputation for himself as an artist who doesn’t stay in one place very long.  Exploring a variety of themes through panting, installation, video, sculpture and drawing, Rondinone seems to use his art as a way to explore context, shaping his exhibitions and pieces to interact with their location on a metaphorical level.

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Avenza Revisited II (1968-1969) by Louise Bourgeois, via Museum of Cycladic Art

Currently on view at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, Greece is an exhibition featuring the work of late artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). The exhibit highlights a body of the artists sculptural work known as the “Personages,” which Bourgeois produced between 1947 and 1953. These totem-like objects have Surrealist origins, and explore the subconscious human sentiments of anger, sexuality, fear and suffering. Eight of these “Personages” are displayed alongside the artist’s most recent series of gouaches.

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