To ensnare. To take in. To beguile. To elude. To while away. To cheat. To fail to fulfill. Or otherwise, to deceive. Avramidou’s recent body of work is the three-dimensional equivalent of this elusiveness. Presented in a variety of media the artist’s near-obsession with the art of deception keeps the viewer occupied and uneasy, in mind, body and soul. Just as the pieces evolve and transmute over time, so does the viewer’s reaction to them. The visceral and the cerebral go hand in hand in this gradual, tentative, sometimes locomotive discovery of a world that is both strictly and subtly personal and esoteric, and fiercely and boldly public and proclaimed. The evolution of the artist’s work from her earlier canvases to today’s sculptural pieces almost depicts the process of going from darkness to light, from obscured to revealed ‘truths’, from uncertainty to certainty, from vagueness to clarity. In Gateway to Light (2019), Avramidou cuts through pitch-black thickness with vertical openings, which simultaneously evoke rays of light, fogginess, dampness and cascading water. The blurriness indicates the start of a process, a state between sleep and awakening, a rupture of the visual. The introduction of red colour in its blood-like tone in Perspectives (2020) indicates life and points to this all-important element in the art historical hidden/seen duality, the curtain. The allusion to the theatrical space invests the scene with greater ambiguity, as it is unknown on which side lies the real life and on which lies fiction. In Untitled 50 (2021) the boldness of the slits now gives way to restlessness, visually translated to an escape towards the three-dimensional space. Avramidou’s recent works, then, forming the Deception series come out of this early struggle to pull the curtain apart and reveal, or courageously dive in, what lies behind it. While the colour disappears and the process is seemingly reprised from the initial fogginess, a decisive turn has been realised. The artist is no longer hostage to the material, but instead works with it. The vertical movement is now expressed not just with light and the occasional vibrant colour opening, as in Deception 7 (2021), but also with traces of human participation. Hands have deliberately, at times tantalisingly shaped the work into a game of light with shadow, of colour with greyness and of folds with smoothness. Seen from a distance, the works are even reminiscent of the silk taffeta gowns of the baroque and rococco iconography, in all their theatricality and luxury.
The works doubtless invite the viewer to intervene. Natural curiosity, or a willingness to flatten and tidy the unevenly ruched ‘fabric’, as if that of life, prompts the senses to respond. The impulse is strong but, alas, deception has been realized. The material is not mouldable by hand only, and the paint is acrylic, shiny, industrial. Hence, what appeared from a distance to be an inviting, abstracted, changeable, smoothing-worthy piece of cloth is a hard, unchangeable structure that, moreover, hides the secrets behind its folds surprisingly well. This is now a case of powerlessness, and the tentative exploration of the world now turns into an admission of manipulation. While experimentation may be said to be found at the core of this move, subtle nuances of a slowly self-establishing power of the artist are starting to emerge. eception, however, does not stop there: it goes a step further in the Bubblegum (2021) works. Boldly using a monochromatic palette now, the artist launches herself into an exploration of fleshiness- meets-industry, where body parts combine an implied softness with power. Then, moving from her sexually suggestive pink to an iridescent blue in her Chameleon (2021) works, Avramidou crushes the female- shaped, delicate nature. Here, the harshness of the industrial material and colour, characteristic of the supercar, with its power and raciness, is decidedly male, dominates the work and the contained female presence. Although firmly positioned in César’s legacy of redundant car compressions as a comment on throwaway society, the effect is here, however, decidedly different: the artist is secure in the knowledge that she is dealing with an organic element, which symbolically has the power to unfold, change its colour like a chameleon, regenerate and re-emerge. This process is expressed by the artist’s latest Fluo Capsule works, a three-dimensional evolution of her earlier slit canvasses. The dynamic, trademark colours of luxury car brands emerge as rays, or wings of hope from black masses that are ready reveal their insides and bloom, such as in Fluo Capsule- Lava Orange (2021). Beguiled, then, the artist, the viewer, and by consequence society at large are, in a seemingly never- ending circle of push and pull, shadow and light, introversion and exposure, compression and expansion. However, transmutation lies at the heart of this process. Standing at a crucial crossroads, Avramidou’s works, then, which do not seem to be touched by a fear of change, have reached a level of maturity just before they re-emerge in a new form, steely and dynamic but nevertheless magnetic, to ensnare us once again.

Evi Baniotopoulou, PhD Art Historian-Curator

Location

Born in Thessaloniki. Lives and works between London and Thessaloniki.

Education

  • 1992-1996 : College of Applied Arts, Thessaloniki Graduated with a bachelor degree in Interior design
  • 1991-1992 : Beaux Arts Institute, Thessaloniki Studied visual arts next to Professor Ksenis Sahinis
  • 1988-1991 : School of Applied Arts, Thessaloniki Studied free-hand and line drawing
  • 1985-1988 : Papioti School, Thessaloniki Studied painting and drawing

Publications

  • Glow Magazine, April 2024
  • FAD Magazine, Top 5 exhibitions to see , London – “The future is Female”
  • Sunday Telegraph, London – “The future is female”
  • Trebuchet magazine, London – “The future is female” 
  • Daily mail, London – “The future is female”
  • Hello! magazine, London – “The future is female”
  • Times radio , London – “The future is female”
  • Flo London, London – “The future is female”
  • Cent magazine – London, “The future is female”
  • SheerLuxe – London, “The future is female” 
  • Time out – London, “The future is female” 
  • ΒΗΜΑgazino  – February 2024
  • Metro Newspaper , “Best Art” London 
  • The Female Issue The Power of “SHE” – Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki – June 2022 – November 2022
  • The Mediterranean Issue – Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki – December 2021 – May 2022
  • WSI Mag – 2021
  • Efthimis is around – 2021
  • Eventbrite – 2021
  • Art Week – 2021
  • Art Rabbit – 2021
  • Art Plugged – 2021
  • Niji Magazine 2021
  • Kathimerini.gr, Group Exhibition, January 2021 (I Shall Be Your Eve)
  • Culturenow.gr, Group Exhibition, December 2020 (I Shall Be Your Eve)
  • Vimagazino, magazine Sunday edition, July 2019 (Artist Artwork)
  • Axia, newspaper, 2019 (Solo Exhibition in Athens)
  • Briefing news, online platform, 2019 (Solo Exhibition in Athens)
  • It’s only arts , online platform, 2019 ( Solo Exhibition in Athens)
  • Glow magazine, 2015 (Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition Entry)
  • Royal Academy of Arts, Edition Publication, 2015 (Summer Exhibition Entry)
  • Newspaper, 2014 (Solo Exhibition in Thessaloniki )
  • Artists Spectrum, 2013 (Art Beat, Artist Review)
  • Art takes Miami, Edition Publication, 2011 (Selected Artwork)
  • Glow magazine, 2010 (Artist Review)
  • Glow magazine, 2005 (Apartment Design)
  • Glow magazine, 2002 (Villa Design) 

Exhibitions

  • The Future Is Female,  Garrison Chapel – Group Exhibition – March – London, April 2024
  • Metamorfosis Gallery – Solo Exhibition – Thessaloniki, April – May 2024
  • Artsy, Solo Viewing Room, Online, 2 Feb 2022, 28 Feb 2022
  • Varvara Roza Galleries || Blender Gallery – Solo Exhibition – London, 9 Dec 2021 – 22 Dec 2021
  • Art Athina, Blender Gallery, Group Exhibition, Athens 21 Nov – 21 Dec
  • Blender Gallery – Varvara Roza Galleries – Group Exhibition, Athens 19 Dec 2020 – 30 Jan 2021
  • Alfa Gallery – XS Group Exhibition, 21 Oct – 29 Nov 2020
  • Alfa Gallery – Miami, Booth 7, 07 Jun – 15 Sep 2020
  • Megaro FAATH, Loudos Auctions, Thessaloniki –
    Group Exhibition – Charity Auction, 4 – 7 Dec 2019
  • Astrolavos Gallery, Group Exhibition, Athens, 20 September – 12 October 2019
  • Art Athina, Astrolavos Gallery, Group Exhibition, Athens, 14 September – 16 September 2019
  • Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, London, 10 June – 12 August 2019
  • Astrolavos Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Athens, 6 February – 1 March 2019
  • Cactus Gallery, Solo Exhibition, London, 1-22 December 2016
  • C.John Gallery, Group Exhibition, London, 21 May – 20 June 2016
  • Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, London, 08 June – 16 August 2015
  • Elements Gabriel Fine Arts, Group Exhibition, London, 23 May – 28 June 2015
  • Metamorphosis Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Thessaloniki, May – June 2014
  • Lola Nikolaou Gallery, Group Exhibition, Thessaloniki, June 2014
  • Agora Gallery, Group Exhibition, New York, April – June 2014
  • Metamorphosis Gallery, Solo Exhibition, Thessaloniki, June – July 2011
  • Skopje, Group Exhibition, September – October 2011

Awards and distinctions

  • Royal Academy of Arts, 2019 – Summer exhibition – London
  • Royal Academy of Arts, 2015 – Summer exhibition – London
  • Art Takes Miami, 2011 – International Art Competition
  • Ermina Avramidou selected as one of the 200 best artists
    from several thousand entries.
  • Awarded with special edition publication