DESTE PRIZE 2007 ANNOUNCES SHORTLISTED ARTISTS
Deste´s new visual identity designed by M/M (Paris), 2007
Deste Prize 2007
for Contemporary Greek Artists
Opening:
Thursday 24th May 2007
Award Ceremony:
24th September 2007
Deste Foundation
Centre for Contemporary Art
11, Filellinon & Em. Pappa Street
142 34 Nea Ionia, Athens, Greece
T: 30 210 2758490, F: 30 210 2754862
E: info@deste.gr
The Deste Foundation is pleased to launch its new visual identity designed by M/M (Paris), on the occasion of the announcement of the shortlisted artists for the upcoming Deste Prize 2007 for Contemporary Greek Artists.
The Deste Prize was established in 1999 as part of the Foundations policy of supporting and promoting contemporary art in Greece and is awarded every two years to a Greek artist living and working either in Greece or abroad. Through this prize, Deste hopes to endorse the spirit of exploration, ingenuity and ambition, so essential to the Foundations mission and to the vitality of contemporary art.
The Selection Committee has chosen the following six (6) short-listed artists for the Deste Prize 2007:
Loukia Alavanou, for the video collages she creates by sampling images from classic animation movies, cult horror films and early 20th century family photographs.
Nikos Arvanitis, for the versatility he demonstrates in his use of media (video, music, drawing, installations, performance) and for his approach of the notions of the public and the political, of high and mass culture.
Yiannis Gregoriades, for his investigation into the various aspects of reality and urban space and for the way in which his work combines a recording of data with a process of research and classification that is reminiscent of the practice of archaeology.
Eleni Kamma, for employing the methods of copying and editing to create utopian space and to articulate a critique of ideologies and stereotypes.
Socrates Fatouros, for his distinctive gestural language that produces a palimpsest of iconographic types and symbols.
Savas Christodoulides, for his particular approach of the tension that is typical of bipolar models, such as the hand-made versus the ready-made, the high versus the low, the place of the artwork versus that of the viewer.
This year marks the fifth presentation of the Deste Prize. Since its inception the Prize has been awarded to: Panayota Tzamourani (1999), Georgia Sagri (2001), Maria Papadimitriou (2003) and Christodoulos Panayiotou (2005).
The winner of the Deste Prize 2007 will be announced on September 24th in a special ceremony at Deste Foundation.
DESTE Prize 2007 Selection Committee:
Nadia Argyropoulou Independent curator, Kostis Velonis Artist, Harry David Collector, Despina Zefkili Art critic, Athinorama magazine, Elpida Karamba Art critic / Curator, Margarita Pournara Journalist, Kathimerini newspaper.
Deste Prize 2007 Jury Committee:
Pawel Althamer – Artist, Laura Hoptman – Curator, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Hans Ulrich Obrist – Co-Director Exhibitions & Programmes and Director of International Projects, Serpentine Gallery, Amanda Sharp – Publisher, Frieze Magazine, Dakis Joannou, President of the Deste Foundation
M/M (Paris) on Deste´s new visual identity: An efficient visual identity is a concretion of identities, that of the person, the event or the place that needs an identity and that of the person or group of people hired to create this identity. Creating an identity means giving a visual existence to a point of view on the person, the place or the event who needs an identity. The graphic designer hired to create the identity by strongly giving his point of view will communicate his/her insight into this specific person, place or event that will then exist through the eyes of their viewers. To sum this up in simple words, something which can not be seen throughout a point of view has no identity. Therefore we have created for Dakis Joannou a peeping hole, so he and the public can look at his collection through a different perspective. M/M (Paris), March 2007
