From Thursday 24 January to 10 February 2013, the Kappatos Gallery is organizing, curating and presenting the annual Contemporary Art Exhibition “ROOMS2013” for the thirteenth time since 1999. It takes place at the St George Lycabettus Hotel, in Dexameni, Kolonaki.
In one of the most popular and long-established contemporary art exhibitions, 20 exhibition curators, art historians and theorists, architects, theatre scholars and choreographers each select one emerging artist or group of artists, to be presented in the rooms of one floor of the hotel. Thirty artists are taking part, showing paintings, sculptures, visual and sound installations, photographic and stage-design installations, architectural projects, design, performances, screenings, films and other works.
Each artist is presented individually in a room on one floor of the hotel, where the room’s environment is transformed into a personal space for the artist. This makes it possible to present and document current trends and proposals in the visual arts and to create a meaningful and fruitful dialogue.
The choice of an unconventional venue, a hotel, for this exhibition stemmed both from the decision to give the artists independent presentations in the same space and from the need for contemporary artworks to claim and occupy their own personal, private and at the same time public space, in full correspondence and harmony with the character and meaning of today.
A hotel is a typical space of mass use, with a specific structure, function and social role within a city: a place for visiting, resting, meeting, getting acquainted and communicating. To its familiar way of operating, hosting for a time mainly “strangers” to the city, as well as local people spending some of their free hours there, another dimension will be added: that of hosting works of art. The hotel’s social role is thus broadened and takes on a cultural and communicative character, becoming a platform for the artists to reach the wider public who will visit and find themselves in the same space on the same days, and will “live together” with the works.
For many of the artists, the wonderful and welcoming setting of the St George Lycabettus Hotel, in one of the most central and beautiful spots in Athens, is an opportunity to create works specifically for this exhibition, works that relate precisely to these functions and to the role of the “welcoming space”.
The St George Lycabettus Hotel remains committed to hosting and promoting cultural activities. By taking part in this event for the umpteenth time, it supports contemporary art and critical thinking and opens its doors to them.
Opening Thursday 24 January 2013, 20:00 – 24:00. The exhibition runs until 10 February 2013.
Opening hours: Weekdays 16:00 – 22:00, Saturday & Sunday 12:00 – 22:00.
More information: kappatosgallery.com
