The exhibition “Chronis Botsoglou: Personal Nekyia”, hosted at 16 Fokionos Negri, presents a solid, layered and indivisible work, inspired by the deaths of loved-ones, which is a figurative study of the artist on memory. This work consists of twenty-six large paintings, which were created from 1993 until the end of 2000 and is part of the Sotiris Felios Collection.

The title “Nekyia” is referred to the eleventh book of Homer’s, “Odyssey”, where he describes the descent of Odysseus into Hades and the conversation with the shadows of the dead. In his Personal Nekyia, Botsoglou is trying to understand and represent those people that no longer exist and who played an important role in his life.

“I used the archetypal Homeric legend, which belongs to all mankind, as an element of social memory, trying to figure out the arbitrary way I live this myth in. I kept, as a component of the composition, the basic distinction between the chorus of men and that of women. Some of the individuals pictured refer to the Homeric heroes, others do not. (…) I could probably admit that this ambitious project is a visual essay on memory, ” writes Botsoglou.

The exhibition has been presented for the first time at the Benaki Museum (Athens, 2002). Then, travelled to the Famagusta Gate (Cyprus, 2003), the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki, 2003), the Art Gallery of the Cyclades (Ermoupolia, Syros, 2008), the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Athens, 2010) and the Hellenic Institute for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice (Italy, 2011).

Tours to the exhibition will be given by Chronis Botsoglou on the following dates:

Saturday 10th May, 11:30 a.m.

Saturday 31st May, 11:30 a.m.

Saturday 14th June, 11:30 a.m.

Throughout the duration of the exhibition the film of Takis Chatzopoulos’s, “Nekyia”, will be projected (duration: 16 minutes).

Several events will take place during this exhibition.