• at the Archaeological Museum of Colonna, entitled "Progressing to Sanctity" and
• in the historic Kapodistrian Orphanage - former Prisons of Aegina, entitled "The Freedom of Confinement".
The exhibitions are organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ephorate of Antiquities of Piraeus and Islands, the Region of Attica, the Municipality of Aegina and the Public Benefit Enterprise of the Municipality of Aegina.
With many years of exhibition experience in archaeological sites and museums of the country, from the Epigraphic and National Archaeological Museums, to the Delphi Museum, the Jeni Mosque of Thessaloniki and the Small Theater of Ancient Epidaurus, Giorgos Xenos once again comes to a dialogue with the ancient works, in a discreet and creative coexistence, with the respect that is imposed on such couplings. The relevance here is substantial and not superficial, limited to the transfer of external features.
At the entrance and in the Atrium of the Archaeological Museum of Colonna, the emblematic human figures of iron rise, in the ambiguous role of foreigner and Xenius together. In the first room, in a pictorial representation, the Argosaronic Map indicates the geographical location. Apollo and the Throne of Apollo in the last rooms, signify the sanctity of the space. Opposite Apollo, a wall-mounted multifaceted composition creates an interactive relationship between work and visitors, in which the viewer could also recognize himself in the visual crowd.
In between, ancient vases and figurines meet contemporary artistic creation, while a set of clay snakes on the floor sends its own message to the chthonic archetypal symbol common to ancient cultures.
In the area of the Kapodistrian Orphanage - former Prisons, contemporary art has the exclusive say. An imaginative discourse, intense and eloquent, for inmates of all kinds. The Screamers, the raised Hands, the anguished gazes, the witnessing Eyes, heavily charged, trouble you with their messages and lure you into a contemplative contemplation creating a Holy Terror as they seek the invisible behind the visible. After all, the conceptual and visual elements are inextricably linked in the work of Giorgos Xenos.
"In all the works, the expression, automatic and sourced, is based on the traces of the writing of a collective as well as a personal file and composes an epic portrait of those who demonstrate on multiple levels and ask for answers by questioning", notes the curator of the exhibition Dr. Vivi Vassilopoulou. And continues: "Through the semiotic works contained in this theme, Giorgos Xenos redefines our relationship with imprisonment in every prison and calls us to unite our voice against violence, fear, anything that deprives us of our freedom of thought, of expression, of choice". Small personal belongings of the then prisoners are displayed in special display cases.
Source: culture.gov.gr
