Chryssa Romanos (1931–2006) was one of the vital important Greek artists to emerge within the Sixties. She belongs to that group of Greek expat intellectuals who lived and labored within the creative centres of the West and, for the very first time within the historical past of Greek artwork, actively participated in formulating worldwide creative actions of their period. The twenty years that Romanos spent in France (1961–1981) proved decisive for moulding her creative identification. She was a part of the circle of the influential critic Pierre Restany and the Nouveau Realistes and was one of many essential feminine figures within the Paris artwork scene of the Sixties.

Open-ended narrative buildings, mechanical replica, randomness, transparency, and the notion of play characterise her physique of labor. From her very first works, the motif of the labyrinth, the critique of consumerism, the political curiosity in social inequalities and injustice, the democratisation of artwork, the osmosis of artwork and on a regular basis life, and the curiosity in journey recur as primary thematic axes, and evolve because the artist herself matures and her social and political atmosphere transforms.

The exhibition “The Seek for Happiness for as Many as Doable” consists of works from nearly all intervals of her oeuvre, highlighting their correlation and relationship. On the similar time, it located the works of their historic, political, and social context. The exhibition parcours begins with Myths, the work originating from the interval when she left for Paris. It continues with the historic collages of 1965; the grand Meccano sculptural constructions, impressed package toys of the identical title sometimes meant for boys; silkscreen prints from the famed Mec Artwork Graphic atelier in Paris; and culminates into her most mature works, the Maps-Labyrinths, with their notable décollage approach on Plexiglas. Lastly, it concludes with a video work based mostly on the wealthy photographic archive of Chryssa Romanos and her husband, the equally influential artist and Athens College of Positive Arts professor Nikos Kessanlis, emphasising the indissoluble and reciprocal relationship between artwork and life.

The exhibition title is derived from a textual content by the eminent French theorist Pierre Restany present in a listing dedicated to Chryssa Romanos and brings to the floor each the emotional and political dimensions of her work.

Curated by
Eleni Koukou and Dimitris Tsoumplekas

at EMST, Athens
till October 27, 2024