Christina Dimitriadis

Opening reception: Friday 13 December, 7 – 9:30 pm

Eleni Koroneou Gallery is pleased to present the new solo exhibition by Christina Dimitriadis titled Horizon Wanderers. The exhibition Horizon Wanderers features two photographic series that approach the ship from different perspectives. The first part, titled Anatomy of the Ship, focuses on the construction of the ship, highlighting the process of its creation, while the second part, titled Ever Blue, explores the ship's disintegration, focusing on the effects of human activity on the marine environment and the degradation of its natural beauty.

The series Anatomy of the Ship includes photographs—resembling X-rays—that capture the construction of ships, showcasing the complex and organic process of shipbuilding. Shipyards are transitional spaces for ships, bridging the concept and inception of a ship with its ultimate destination, the sea. Ships are not merely means of transportation; they are artifacts that combine functionality and aesthetics, reflecting humanity's intrinsic need for exploration, communication, and exchange.

The photographic project Ever Blue focuses on the gradual transformation of the Saronic Gulf—a place of deep historical and cultural significance—into an industrial zone. The photographs depict areas of the gulf, including ports, shipyards, and abandoned shipwrecks. This place, once a site of natural and mystical beauty, has been transformed into a hostile and uninhabitable space. The blue traditionally associated with the sea's waters has been replaced by the murky gray of polluted water. This radical transformation has not only altered the aesthetic of the landscape but has also disrupted the delicate balance of the marine ecosystem, leaving it vulnerable to ongoing pressures.

From their earliest forms, ships have symbolized the dual nature of humanity. On the one hand, they embody the need for communication, exploration, and the exchange of ideas. On the other hand, they are associated with conquest, conflict, and exploitation. The exhibition Horizon Wanderers highlights these contrasts, focusing on how ships, as both technical and cultural symbols, encapsulate human dreams, ambitions, and contradictions. Through the sections of the exhibition, the concepts of creation and decay coexist, forming a multidimensional narrative that balances between salvation and destruction, hope and pessimism, reflecting humanity's fragile relationship with the environment and its own existence.

For the realization of this project, Christina Dimitriadis received funding in 2022 from Stiftungs Kunstfonds, one of the most prestigious public funding institution in Germany.

Christina Dimitriadis (b. Thessaloniki, 1967) is an artist and photographer. She graduated from the New School of Social Research – Parsons School of Design in New York. Since 1993, she lives and works in Berlin. Dimitriadis' works have been exhibited in major art centers and institutions, including the Berlinische Galerie in Berlin, MEP La Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, Istanbul Modern, the Museum of Modern Art in Istanbul, mumok Museum Moderne Kunst Stiftung Ludwig in Vienna, EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, MOMus – Metropolitan Organization of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki, the Municipal Arts Center of Athens, the C.R.A.C. Centre Régional d'Art Contemporain Languedoc Roussillon in Sète, the Auckland Triennial, the Istanbul Biennale, the Moscow Photo Biennale, the Thessaloniki Biennale, and the Thessaloniki Photo Biennale. In April 2015, Galeria Studio in Warsaw hosted the first retrospective of Christina Dimitriadis' work, titled Technologies of the Self, curated by Barbara Piwowarska. Dior Haute Couture invited Dimitriadis to photograph their Summer 2022 Collection. In 2024, Dimitriadis was nominated for the Louis Roederer Foundation Photography Prize for Sustainability, and in 2020, she was shortlisted for the SPECTRUM International Prize for Photography awarded by the Lower Saxony Foundation and the Sprengel Museum. Dimitriadis has participated in international artist residency programs and has received scholarships, including GATE27 in Istanbul, C.A.R.K. at Kanazawa College of Art in Kanazawa, and AIR Artist-In-Residence in Krems an der Donau. She has received grants and funding from organizations such as Stiftung Kunstfonds, Stiftung Kulturwerk of VG Bild-Kunst, the NEON Grant in Athens, OUTSET, and ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen. Her works are part of the collections of Frac Bretagne, Galeria Studio in Warsaw, and the EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens.