Art Seen is excited to announce the upcoming solo exhibition by the Cypriot artist Chris Akordalitis opening on Friday, October 4th at Art Seen Gallery, Nicosia. This will be his first solo show in Cyprus. The exhibition is curated by Maria Stathi with a text by the art historian Thalea Stefanidou.

A theoretical commentary on Down Memory Lane, a series of works by Chris Akordalitis

Going back in time to one’s place of origin and following the path of memories, primarily with nostalgia but also with an inherent need for deepening and understanding the human condition, the games of memory seem to function as processes of re-reading personal history.

In managing memory fields through words and images, artists’ ‘writings,’ using metaphor and allegory, often weave a narrative thread that describes the various ways in which the very artistic identity and its truth are constructed.

As it happens in dreams, through associations and digressions, the indefinite and indeterminate unconscious is visually articulated through vivid images – acts of creative imprinting. This is undoubtedly a reconstruction, a reshaping, and a re-evaluation of lived experience that the artist needs to highlight, emphasising and preserving adequate traces, or even daring to proceed with versions of their dynamic reformulation. In this way, memories are reinterpreted, as thoughts and elements from the present are incorporated during the process of retrieving fragments from the reservoir of memories.

In an era where all kinds of changes occur at an accelerated pace, and technology drags us in its wake, returning to the familiarity of one’s birthplace and its formative experiences continues to be one of our constant concerns. Admissions like ‘everything has a root in the past because that is what defines the framework for identifying the source or for detecting truth’ remain non-negotiable.

I was led to these thoughts by Chris Akordalitis’s series of works titled Down Memory Lane, as I sought to understand the puzzle of his visual storytelling while enjoying his ingenious associations.

All his images project the predilections of his imaginary with evident economy, providing space for interpretive keys, but also for ambiguities. Each of his episodes seems to tell a story: sometimes he crafts visual experiments as thought records, and other times he records fantasies, daydreams, transformations, and anamorphoses, focusing on themes familiar to the artist. All while foregrounding symbols and archetypes with creative license.

The individual titles of Akordalitis’s pieces serve in an explanatory mode, explicitly providing a rational path of interpretation for the visual narrative and suggesting the artist’s personal approach to interpreting his images, which contributes to the accessibility and clarity of his work.

It seems that it all began with an early creative effort under a table [Under the Table]. It was there that the first skies were painted; that the first drawings were secretly made, like stylised, colourful food preparations, never intended to be seen in public. However, in an adult’s solitary journey of retrospection, infused with his native island’s heritage of preparing and sharing food, this visual ‘cooking’ becomes a purely symbolic scene of self-sacrifice in full exposure. In [Cooking for You], the naked body itself becomes the ultimate offering, a secular scene of pleasure-giving and receiving.

The successive scenes and figures in the works of this series build an associative narrative continuum, where human figures, objects, and wild creatures are treated equitably in each composition, with a recreative hierarchy, suggesting a wealth of commentary and symbolism.

In [Sharp Knife], a maternal figure performs a potent act, perhaps fulfilling a duty. Her decisive motion of bisecting the yellow fruit, cutting off part of her hair in the process – suggesting loss of power – doesn’t seem to trouble her at all. On the contrary, she seems full of joy, probably because in this way she has rejected the superfluous to keep only what is necessary and beneficial.

Juxtaposed with this demonstration of female power, in [September] the first month of autumn is personified by a self-satisfied male figure, crowned with the fruits of the season. This September looks like a mature, fruit-filled Spring or a ripe Bacchus in the height of enjoyment.

[Sand Castles] imaginatively describes, on a distorted scale, the childish fantasy of returning to maternal protection; in [River Spirits], filled with poetry, the child dreams up its own garden of pleasures, the awakening of sensuality in the moisture of the river, in the company of charming creatures of irresistible colours and forms.

[She Shells] and [Cherry Boy] are personifications of youth, each one portrayed with their own characteristic jewellery, derived from nature. The female one, reminiscent of a small Aphrodite, her neck adorned with a necklace of shells, and the male one, a young, carefree Bacchus, ostentatiously adorned with cherries, a bright red fruit, hanging from his ear, in evocations of youth that highlight the inherent self-sufficiency of these figures.

Shown in profile, the extraordinary crested parrot in [Cockatoo] complements the two portraits above. With its natural crown, the exotic bird amidst the lush flora represents a childlike allegory of Nature.

The two pieces, [Water Gun] and [Ice Cream], are playful political commentaries on the concept of power and its fictitious offensive or defensive weapons. A colour composition reminiscent of a banner, [Ice Cream], a cold, ostentatious statement of direction, takes on an emblematic gravitas.

[Fisherman] and [Koukoumara I] are evocations of the characteristic water containers of Cyprus island traditional pottery. These painted vessels seem to become containers of secrets, while displaying masterful painted and sculptural decoration on their outside. Beyond utilitarian or decorative objects from another time, and in addition to being nostalgic farewell gestures to the old world, they signify the artist’s inner need to ‘fish’ in every literal and metaphorical sense, as well as to compete with the first potter of the Genesis.

With his only black and white piece [Bitch Is Delulu], Akordalitis completes the visual narrative of Down Memory Lane on an ironic comment, Cyprus morphing from Venus Anadyomene to a chill Mermaid sprawled undecidedly along the entire island, offering a languid response to the challenges of the times.

Thalia Stefanidou

Art Historian/Critic – Curator

(Translation from the Greek text by Dimitris Saltabasis)

Chris Akordalitis(b.1989, Paphos, Cyprus) lives and works in Paphos. Hereceived an MFA from Kunst academy in Düsseldorf, where he studied paintingunder Prof. Andreas Schulze and sculpture under the artist Tony Cragg. Selectedsolo exhibitions include:‘House Guests’ at Half Gallery, LA,‘Inside/Outside’ at ExpoChicago,Dio Horia Gallery, Chicago; ‘Fragile Gods’ at Dio Horia Gallery, Athens;‘Between Worlds’ at Dio Horia Gallery, Mykonos. Selected group exhibitionsinclude: 'A garden of earthly delights', Taipei Dangdai, Dio Horia Gallery,Taipei;Andrea Festa Fine Art,Rome; CAN Ibiza, Dio Horia Gallery, Ibiza; ‘AfterHope’, Dio Horia Gallery, Athens; Untitled Miami, Dio Horia Gallery, Miami; UntitledMiami at Dio Horia Gallery, Online Edition, Artland; Future Fair, Dio Horia Gallery,Online edition, Artsy; ‘FriendsNonShow’ at Dio Horia Gallery, Athens.His work hasbeen reviewed by Artsy, Juxtapoz, ArtObserver, Art Chosun and other culturalmedia. Akordalitis’ work has been part of prominent art collections, includingForecast Städtische at Galerie Kaarst, Kaarst; Gallery Pop68, Cologne; GarageMuseum of Contemporary Art, Moscow; Planet 58 Kunstsammlung [K21],Düsseldorf; Water House of Art, Paphos; Xiao Museum, Rizhao; Zuzeum Art Centre,Riga.

Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 16:00 – 19:00 or by appointment

For more information, please contact: Maria Stathi, Founder & Director, Art Seen

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