Bill Balaskas

UK Young Artists (UKYA) is pleased to present a solo exhibition and a lecture-performance by Nottingham-based interdisciplinary artist Bill Balaskas, in the context of its inaugural UKYA City Takeover. 

UKYA City Takeover: Nottingham 2019 will present the work of 250 young artists from 25 countries, through 100 free exhibitions, performances, workshops and talks. Over the course of the festival’s week, visitors will have the opportunity to tour Nottingham, discovering and learning about contemporary cultural production.

Bill Balaskas (b. 1983 in Thessaloniki, Greece) is one of the most renowned European artists of his generation working in the intersection of art, theory and politics. Originally trained as an economist, his works address ideologically charged subjects, with a particular focus on capitalist spectacle and its political ramifications. Balaskas is a UKYA alumnus—he was selected to represent the United Kingdom in World Event Young Artists of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, and in Maribor 2012 European Capital of Culture.

Squared is a “dispersed” solo exhibition by Balaskas, which will be staged across multiple venues of the festival. The exhibition will constitute a “takeover” within the Takeover, as Balaskas will insert several of his works in the exhibition spaces occupied by the selected artists. In this way, Balaskas will develop not only a dialogue with a new generation of cultural producers, but also a reflection on the very notion of exhibition-making and visual communication.