Contemporary Art Fair of Athens Opens with 58 Galleries from 11 Countries

Written by Giorgos Charos Friday, 14 May 2010 21:40

ATHENS.- The International Contemporary Art Fair of Athens is back with its 16th edition which will take place through 16 May 2010. Despite the big international financial crisis, 58 galleries form 11 countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Turkey, USA) will participate this year as well, showcasing the work of more than 300 artists. The fair also presents 42 institutions related to contemporary art (museums, foundations, art publishers and media).

Cultural foundations, art publishers and the media will also have a strong presence at ART-ATHINA 2010. Among the participating ones are: Agra Publications, AICA Hellas, AKTO, artAZ, ARTeSHOP, Atelier Spyros Vassiliou, Athens Voice, Atopos Cultural Organization, Benaki Museum, Cube Art Editions, Deree, DESTE Foundation, Diatton Publications, Gallery Guide, Greek Art Institute, Hellenic American Union, Highlights, House of Cyprus, Hydra School Projects, Institute Mohamed Ali, Kunsthalle Athena, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Melissa Publications, Minas Chatzichristou – Fine Art Conservation, Motto Distribution, Museum of Greek Children’s Art, Museum of Photography-Thessaloniki, National Gallery, National Theatre – Common View, Nereus Publishers, Ozon, Paperkingdom, Pergamos – Adam Editions, Quintessentially, State Museum of Contemporary Art, The Art Newspaper – Greek edition, Vakalo College, Velvet magazine, Yatzer.

ART-ATHINA 2010 once more is hosted at the Faliro Pavilion (TaeKwonDo), which was transformed last year into a sparkling islet of art for four days leaving all visitors and participants with the best impressions.

The internationally acclaimed fair was established in 1993 by the Hellenic Art Galleries Association with a view to showcase a selection of contemporary artworks produced by established as well as young Greek and foreign artists; to provide the grounds for intriguing dialogue concerning the arts and the new art trends worldwide; to familiarize the Greek audience with the developments in the art world and to open channels of communication with the international art scene. Each year, an ever growing number of ART-ATHINA fans –famous artists, prominent art critics, important collectors and keen art lovers– arrive from all over the world to visit the fair and transform Athens into a vibrant art scene for a few days.

Among the participating artists are: Alexis Akrithakis, Dimitris Alithinos, Stephen Antonakos, Dimitrios Antonitsis, Manolis Charos, Dimitris Condos, Alexandros Georgiou, George Hadjimichalis, Zoe Keramea, Nikos Kryonidis, Margarita Lypiridou, Katherina Manolessou, Despina Meimaroglou, MSAZ, Kyrillos Sarris, Panayiotis Terzis, Eleni Theofilaktou, Giorgos Tserionis, Dimitris Tsoumplekas, Dimitra Ermeidou, Antonis Vathis. The exhibition is produced by ART-ATHINA. Transport sponsor of this exhibition is the company Nail2Nail – Fine Art Movers.

Within its parallel programme, ART-ATHINA 2010 hosts Jannis and Zoe Spyropoulos Foundation and the Spyropoulos Awards which are annually awarded to two young artists under the age of 30. The exhibition will showcase the work of the eight artists who have been honoured with the award since 2006 as well as photographs of the work of all the artists that have received the award since it was established. The foundation is now celebrating its 20th anniversary and the visitors will be informed about the wide range of its activities. Jannis and Zoe Spyropoulos Foundation is also delighted to announce a new award, the Vassilis J. Valambous Award, which will be awarded every two years to post-graduate art students up to the age of 35. The donation supporting financially the Vassilis J. Valambous Award comes from his children in memory of the great collector.

The International Honorary Board of ART-ATHINA 2010, consisting of prominent personalities from the international art scene, has a view to promote the Athens fair internationally. Members of the board are: Paolo Colombo (Art Advisor, Istanbul Modern), Wilfried Cooreman (Collector, Belgium), Agnes Fierobe (Director of Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris), Enrique Juncosa (Director of Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin), Mercedes Vilardell (Collector, Spain), Ilmo Sr. D. Marcos Vinzia (Lawyer, Spain).

Many collectors and prominent personalities of the international art scene are participating in the VIP programme of ART-ATHINA 2010 and apart from the fair they will have the opportunity to visit private collections and museums in Athens.

ART-ATHINA 2010 has organised a special event to host the members of the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT), the conference of which will take place in Athens during the days of the fair.

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