Eirini Zorpa studied on a scholarship at the Athens School of Fine Arts, in the Painting department under Dimitris Mytaras, and went on to complete her master’s degree at the University of Wolverhampton in England, graduating with distinction in art theory and “Fine Arts”.
With a violent, feverish brushstroke and an instinctive use of colour, the works of Eirini Zorpa bear traces of “automatism” – that is, the “release” of images from the unconscious – and of so-called “Abstract Expressionism”, without, however, adhering strictly to their principles.
In her works, the real object – a ladder or an umbrella – is rendered schematically and takes its place in a complex network of “moving” layers of colour that often collide and divide the surface of the painting into irregular sections.
In her own words: “The two basic elements in my work are the handling of colour and of space. I won’t try to create an image of a landscape, a composition, a story or an idea. It’s a bit like a search for something new, something unexpected from painting, an ordinary everyday object”.
The large quantities of paint and the spontaneous, “gestural” way in which they are applied transform the surface of the canvas into a relief, so that its rich texture plays with light and shadow.
With complete freedom in her colour palette, Zorpa combines primary and complementary, warm and cool colours, with strong contrasts between them, creating a three-dimensional effect.
Her interest is focused on emotional expression and self-expression, as well as on exploring colour as “form”». Through the seemingly vague and blurred shapes she creates, viewers are left free to make their own personal discoveries, in an open process of interpretation.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2003 Solo painting exhibition, ‘Technis Dromena’ gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus.
2010 Solo painting exhibition, Terre d’ artistes gallery, Kolonaki, Athens.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1999 Group painting exhibition, Melina Mercouri Hall, Nicosia, Cyprus.
2002 Group painting exhibition, Melina Mercouri Hall, Nicosia, Cyprus.
2004 Graduates’ exhibition, Athens School of Fine Arts, ERGOSTASIO, Piraeus.
2005 Group painting exhibition, Athens School of Fine Arts Postgraduate Association, Plaka.
2006 Group painting exhibition, NEW HORIZONS, Birmingham, UK.
2006 Group painting exhibition, WILIAM JANES, Cholargos.
2006 Group exhibition, MA EXHIBITION, University of Wolverhampton, UK.
2006 Group painting exhibition, HOME AND DECORATION, Peristeri exhibition centre.
2006 Group painting exhibition, “8 WESTERN MULTI-SPACE FOR ART AND CULTURE”, Egaleo.
2006 Group exhibition, “THE SEA IN 100 POSTCARDS”, Cultural Consulate, Elassona.
2007 Group exhibition, “Young Painters”, Cyprus.
2008 Group exhibition, “DE NATURAE”, ART TOWER AGORA GALLERY, Athens.
2010 Group exhibition, Terre d’ artistes, Kolonaki.
2010 Group exhibition, young painters, Chrysis Gallery, Athens.
2010 Group exhibition, young Greek painters, Chrysis Gallery in collaboration with the Marina of Kos.
2010 Group exhibition, small is smart gallery, Art Tower, Varvakeios Agora, Athens.
2010 Group exhibition at the City of Athens’ Technopolis, Gazi, through the Terre de artistes gallery.
