In ancient Greek cult-practice and literature, a nekyia is a rite by which ghosts were called up and questioned about the future. As the title Nekyia implies, Palavidi’s and Koliopoulos’s paintings and sculptures turn into a prophetical depiction of the life of mortal beings. Humans are transformed into puppets, imprisoned in a collapsing scene where they become victims of their own actions. Through a rich visual vocabulary, the artists redefine any established identity and construct innovative sceneries that allow different levels of interpretation. Form dissolves into formlessness where bodies are fragmented and distorted, while the image of historical figures is altered. The chaotic assemblage of minuscule characters brings into the surface the relation and the boundaries between the state of individual and collective “being”.

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Society’s products and imagery become the source of medium emphasizing the critical view towards society itself. Embracing the ritualistic form of a prophecy, the artists transform ordinary objects into a symbolical language and position processed stones in the gallery space. Each painting depicts a different microcosm where humans are trapped in a pandemonium of signs, reminding us Hieronymus Bosch in a contemporary scene. Unable to escape from an over-informed system, people turn into miniatures that live in a playground of disarray.

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Ioannis Koliopoulos (b.1986, Athens) graduated the Athens School of Fine Arts and Paola Palavidi (b.1986, Athens) completed a BA in Art and Design at Central Saint Martins school of Art and Design in London. They have participated in several group exhibitions either individually or through collaboration. They both live and work in Athens.

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