Eleni Bagaki
Reclining Artist, the Artist is reclining
I was falling into something (Maybe), 2020 , Oil and acrylic on canvas , 40 x 50 cm
An expression of such longing that I had to look away (Carriers), 2010 , Oil on canvas , 80 x 100 cm
I held still waiting for the pleasure to dull (Pink rock), 2021 , Oil on canvas , 60 x 50 cm
I could believe anything new (The goats), 2010 , Oil on canvas , 121 x 131 cm
I overlooked the moment (Waterfall), 2009 , Oil on canvas , 80 x 100 cm
I thought something about love, (Lazy River), 2020 , Oil on canvas , 140 x 150 cm
See? I had seen it precisely this way (Green face), 2010-21 , Oil on canvas , 36 x 25 cm
I let myself imagine what I wanted (Sublime succulents), 2010 , Oil on canvas , 130 x 140 cm
Just kidding (Dildo in the woods), 2010, Oil on canvas , 120 x 100 cm
There was a promise in it (The pond), 2021 , Oil and acrylic on canvas , 140 x 150 cm
I had faith in them (Swinging girls), 2010, Oil on canvas , 61 x 77 cm
I nodded, yes, as if I had everything (Matisse), 2021 , Oil on canvas , 60 x 80 cm
ELENI BAGAKI
Reclining artist, the artist is reclining
4 June - 17 July & 10-25 September 2021
Reclining artist, the artist is reclining
I am taking a break
I stop to think, enjoy, absorb
What is there left to make?
I take it easy, I slow down, I look back
Joy and desire
What can I reclaim?
Eleni Koroneou Gallery presents the first solo exhibition of Eleni Bagaki in the gallery, entitled Reclining Artist, the Artist is reclining. Taking as a starting point a series of paintings that the artist had completed in 2010 in her hometown, Chania, she gets inspired to paint again. Weaving a personal story of nature and herself, she continues her research on ideas of wandering, time, place, and sense of belonging.
In recent years, Bagaki has traveled and lived in remote places close to nature (mainly within the context of art residencies), where she had the opportunity to explore and redefine how she connects to her surroundings. Wandering on shores, looking at the sunsets, walking up the mountains, the artist stops and immerses herself in the beauty of nature.
She returns to the medium of painting and portrays landscapes that seem disrupted by time and space. Employing a soft palette, she captures the elusive moment of the light when the sun goes down; the vegetation, the earth, the animals all float and immerse together in layers of color, overriding ideas of perspective and creating a new space for contemplation.
Eleni Bagaki’s practice is informed by feminist theories and explores how autobiographical narrative can be related to the collective and the political and sometimes is rendered as text, sound, video, painting, sculpture, or something else. She has participated in art residencies programs such as Hordaland Kunstsenter, Bergen (2020), Fogo Island Arts, Fogo Island (2019), Iaspis, Stockholm (2018-2019), Pivô, São Paulo (2018, with an artist’s scholarship), and the Kantor Foundation, Krakow (2017). In 2018 she presented her solo exhibition "A book, a film, and a soundtrack" on Radio Athènes, Athens, with the support of the NEON Culture and Development Organization and the Outset Fund. Her other solo exhibitions have taken place at: Palette Terre, Paris (2018), Signal, Malmo (2016-17), New Studio, London (2015-16), and Radio Athènes, Athens (2015). She has participated in group exhibitions internationally, such as L’Inconnue Gallery, Montreal (2017), at the Benaki Museum with the DESTE Foundation and the New Museum of New York, Athens (2016) and at Family Business, New York (2013). Currently, she participates in the 2020-21 Artworks Artist Fellowship Program (Stavros Niarchos Foundation).