Back in Town

Back in town is a visual exhibition that invites us all to rethink our relationship with the city and the rituals that we create and inherit over the years.

Urban rituals* not only allow each of us to return to our daily routines, but they also allow us to become part of a community and develop a sense of belonging to a place and a group. These rituals are essential if we are to become part of the city as a whole. Leaving it and returning to it in the best possible conditions.

These rituals exist in all places and are linked to memories, creating the identity of a place and of our self. The work environment, our house, our childhood home, are among the most characteristic. All these places are filled with memories and form the basis of our sense of belonging to a place. Moving from one to another is a way of building and linking past and present, and creating an anchor for building a future.

"The city is not a static place to live"*, it undergoes a continuous transformation where, through rituals, we create symbols and ensure our inclusion in the society in which we have evolved and changed.

Urbans rituals as spaces of memory and belonging, 2021, Fiorenza Gamba , Sandro Cattacin. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Under Creative Common License. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2021.100385

Julia Andriadou creates the surroundings needed for our imagination to visit and revisit our memories and images acquired in our urban rituals. The idealised (or less than idealised) city, as it exists in one’s mind, makes an appearance on her canvas, in a hazy wave of reminiscence of bygone times. Oftentimes abstract, Julia Andriadou’s paintings seamlessly blend the urban dystopia and nature’s decompressing qualities, breaking down common imagery into something odd yet strangely comforting.

Marina Koutsospyrou's works take us on a journey of memories, images and everyday objects left behind. It's a reflection of a routine that's been turned upside down, a time needed to adapt and find our anchorage so that we can get back into the rhythm of the urban life. Marina unfolds stories and memories that open the way to interpretation and self-discovery. She takes us from the realistic contemplation of a scenery to immaterial and imaginative experiences.

While Fotini Alexiou plays with acrylics, glue and watercolors she disseminates symbols of our daily scenes before our eyes. Afterimages of our day-to-day reality become deconstructed in ways that much resemble the quick glance of a wandering mind. Fotini Alexious’ works challenge out imagination, demands that we look at everyday objects and scenery under a surreal lens that both alienates and comforts the viewer.

Another perspective, more based on impressions and urban vibes is offered by Fay Anagnostopoulou through a fully abstract representation of the city. A place that does not exist in a 3D environment but relies on the projected memories and fragment of history on canvas.

The energy of the city is derived from its varying identities, which can be gathered as a collective spirit and force for good, where difference is valued. As such, the aforementioned artists are in constant conversation with all those characteristics that give way to commonality and parity respectively in order to bring forward the identity of a city.