Ekfrasi – yianna grammatopoulou gallery presents the solo exhibition of Aliki Pappa, titled Nullibi Nemo.Grotesque and enigmatic figures; unnatural forms with disproportionate bodies and masks; spectral presences; silent gatherings of animals; theatrical spaces with extravagant and elaborate Baroque decoration (drawn from a photographic archive of American vaudeville stages dating from 1880 to 1930) devoid of spectators, their stages empty or, at times, frequented by unexpected performers in the leading role, a group of dinosaurs, perhaps, or an ethereal mannequin: this is the pictorial universe of Aliki Pappa’s Nullibi nemo (No One Anywhere) series.
For the works in this series, Pappa draws on the archive of the photographer and ethnologist Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), on film stills – from Sergei Eisenstein’s October to Disney’s Frozen – but above all on personal, fragmentary and raw images of memory. Powerful, original and sensitive, her compositions assert themselves through images that seem to occupy a threshold, suspended between absence and presence, silence and solitude. Dreamlike and ambiguous, frozen in space and time, they startle, conceal and reveal, imbued with a magical-symbolic quality, raising existential and ontological questions while appealing to a deeper form of communication.
Pappa presents a world in turmoil: an intermediate, secret realm, the stage of an imaginary and uncanny theatre of human life. Acuity of draughtsmanship, a remarkable command of imagery and technical virtuosity are the fundamental features of her work. The sculptural quality of her forms and the tonal gradations of grey contribute decisively to the evocative, allusive atmosphere of her compositions.
The slow, protracted process of completing each composition in pencil –a medium that is itself both simple and dense– seems to resist the passage of time: to function, as Pappa herself puts it, as a “decelerating force” against the unbridled pace of contemporary life, while resisting the ever-accelerating production and consumption of images. A contemporary and penetrating body of work, rich in substance and open to multiple interpretations and approaches.
Curated by Yannis Bolis, Art Historian
Opening: Thursday, September 17, 19:00 – 22:00
Exhibition duration: September 17 – October 10, 2026
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