Artist, Triada Samaras,
presents:
The
State of Greece: Enoikiazetai-Poleitai /
For Rent-For Sale
Above: The State of Greece #2 Digital Photograph 20” x 28” c.
Triada Samaras 2015
Brooklyn,
New York 3/1/2015
Artist, Triada Samaras,
is pleased to present her photographic series: The State of Greece: Ενοικιαζεται -Πωλειται / For Rent-For Sale at
Nancy Dryfoos Gallery, Kean University, Union, New Jersey, from March 4-March
31, 2015. Opening reception: Saturday, March 7, 2:30 – 5:00 http://www.kean.edu/~gallery/Upcoming.html
About the Current Exhibition
This exhibition of eleven
medium-sized, color photographs highlights the economic malaise in Greece that
Triada Samaras, an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York,
encountered in Athens, Greece when she was visiting her family there.
Samaras’ photographic
series: The State of Greece: Enoikiazetai-Poleitai/For Rent-For Sale explores the question: What is the state of Greece
today? Samaras states, “In a
multitude of subtle and obvious ways, Greek economic austerity, as a
theme, triumphs the Greek visual landscape in this moment. The words: ΕΝΟΙΚΙΑΖΕΤΑΙ
- ΠΩΛΕΙΤΑΙ: FOR RENT - FOR SALE dominate the streets, structures and
spaces of Greece, repeating themselves ad nauseam along blocks of once
occupied homes and shops, spelling out the current, disastrous Greek state of affairs.”
The artist wandered along the streets of central Athens, to capture these
images and state of affairs in Greece. Syntagma Square, Stadiou Str, Hermou Str
between Syntagma, and Omonia Squares, Monasteraki and Omonia Squares, and the
neighborhoods of Pagkrati and Ilissia are all featured. Samaras describes
these routes and areas since anyone familiar with Athens will know they are
neither the poor areas, nor the off the beaten track ones, but rather they
constitute the central, well traveled, and once affluent streets of former
Athens.
Today, however, things look very different. Images of locked gates, desolate store windows, and graffiti
appear often in her photographs, as do images of the artist herself, often as a
reflection or a shadow of herself. Art critic
Susan Handler wrote about the work, “Utilizing the language of visual symbolism
and the written word, the viewer can read in her photographs the toxic plague
that is thriving and destroying the country.”
Samaras states, "It is my sincere
hope that these photographs might provoke the viewer to ask questions and to
seek creative solutions.” To this end, she will be donating some of
the proceeds of her exhibition to Greece.
More About This Work
The State of Greece:
Enoikiazetai/Poleita-For Rent/For Sale was first a digital and
socially engaged art project at Vital Space/Nature and Humanity, co-created by
the economist and recently elected Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis,
and installation artist, Danae Stratou. It can still be found there at http://www.vitalspace.org/art-projects
About the Artist
Triada Samaras is a Greek-American artist
born in New England with family members on both sides of the Atlantic. Samaras has lived and worked in Brooklyn, New
York for many years. She has created art works in a wide variety of media
including painting, sculpture, drawing, street art, public art, photography,
texts, poetry, essays and social media. As an
interdisciplinary and socially engaged artist, Samaras’ work often grapples
with contentious environmental, geographic, economic and social issues in both New
York City and in Greece.
Her artwork has been featured in numerous
national and international art exhibitions and venues including: Vital
Space/Nature and Humanity, Brooklyn Historical Society; Brooklyn Old Stone
House; Kentler International Drawing Center, Brooklyn; A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn;
AthensArt International Art Festivals: Odessa/Ukraine, Alexandria/Egypt, and
Vienna/Austria; Macy Gallery, Columbia University, New York; Millbank Chapel,
Columbia University, NY; Nancy Dryfoos and James Howe Galleries, Kean
University, New Jersey; Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn; Governors
Island, New York; Long Island Univeristy, Brooklyn; Goddard College, Vermont; Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston.
Samaras’
poems, texts and art activist projects have been highlighted in numerous
publications and venues including: Gowanus Lounge, Brooklyn; Vital Space/Nature
and Humanity; Erato; Inter-view Bulletin, Columbia University; Carroll Gardens
Coalition for Respectful Development Blog, Brooklyn; Athens Journal of Social
Sciences, Athens, Greece; Palmografos,
Greece; Hellenic Voice, Boston; Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont; The
Brooklyn Paper; BCAT/Brooklyn Cable Access Television; Brooklyn Cable News12;
Crains; MetroNY; Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn; New York Post; Brooklyn Daily
Eagle; Daily Gotham, Sierra Club SIerran; Brownstoner; Curbed; the Brooklyn
Daily; Time Out NY; the Haverhill Gazette, Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Samaras is Adjunct Professor of Art at
Kean University and Adjunct Professor of Art and Art Education at William
Paterson University.
Contact: Triada Samaras
Cell: 917 558 6157
