The exhibition
Curated by Panos Giannikopoulos
Ekfrasi – yianna grammatopoulou, presents the solo exhibition of Odysseas Glykas entitled Forage.
In “Forage,” Odysseas Glykas revisits the concept of the nomadic forager, a supposed condition of humanity at the junction of evolutionary and historical change, often described in modern thought as “the hunter-gatherer.” As a contemporary forager, the artist wanders through fields of land or built environments and sources materials to create a series of sculptures, installations, and mixed media works.
The exhibition’s works are complex compositions of found objects. Horns and bones intertwine with wires and remnants of human infrastructure, forging a dialogue between nature and technology. Each piece invites the viewer to consider the bonds and entanglements between humans and animals, the shared spaces and resources, and the mutual dependence that defines these relationships. Glykas points to the raw moments of searching and grasping, the libidinal impulse and sexual energy, and also care, tenderness, and affect.
In Spears, the arrows bend, and their violent traces are reversed. In Warrior II, the phallic and its sexual energy are vulnerable and ready to collapse, precarious as much as they want to be looked at otherwise. But a dynamic sensuality is always present. The work is wayward and playful in its connections. Natural landscapes made of concrete, feathers, animal remnants, and organic matter are attached to the industrialized and hyper-artificial. The world created, as uncanny as it is, seems strangely welcoming and nursing.
Glykas’ forms claim their animacy and rethink the definition of humanness, especially concerning humanity’s related concepts, such as animality (as its constructed counterpart or boundary). The works introduce new perspectives that challenge and dismantle entrenched binary distinctions, including dynamism versus stasis, life versus death, subject versus object, speech versus nonspeech, human versus animal, and natural body versus mechanic. Finally, they touch upon the potential to reshape conditions of intimacy, fostering new types of communal relationships and rethinking biopolitical realms, or at least how we conceptualize them.
Opening: Thursday June 20, 2024, 19:00 – 22:00
Duration: June 20- July 19, 2024
— The artist
Selected Works
