LUNA

In this new body of work, Irini Karayannopoulou interconnects show business relics with mythology, in a poetic fashion. The artist’s fascination for the ancient Greek myth of the moon goddess, who falls in love with a handsome shepherd, ignites the creation of a delirious series of prints, collages, and paintings. Triggered by the moon’s power to influence our mood and by the impact of women stars on society -actresses, singers, dancers, and models- Irini Karayannopoulou unearths images from the 1950s to the 1980s and brings them back to life, refreshed.

During her three-week stay in Istanbul, the artist discovers her materia prima in the city’s antique shops, flea markets, and private collections. Multi-level metaphors emerge as she enlarges and reactivates outdated, mostly black-and-white images. She takes risks by painting directly on the original material. Quite often, her experiments in image appropriation alter the atmosphere with a few brushstrokes only. Magazines, film posters, and vinyl record covers are turned into allegories or dreams. Female emancipation is being negotiated unapologetically. Mermaids, chess players, beauty queens, cinema, and music superstars form an elegant army of women with lust for life and for equal rights. The artist’s approach not only blurs the lines between beauty stereotypes and female empowerment but also breathes new life into the representation of the female body.

Throughout these works, the moon’s shine is omnipresent.

Irini Karayannopoulou assigns new roles to powerful, sensual female figures and reflects on the societal changes that have occurred from the time that these portraits were created to the time she decided to revisit them. Finally, she enables women from a bygone era to transcend time and space with newly obtained identities, and why not, new superpowers.

ABOUT ARTIST

Irini Karayannopoulou is an Athens based artist and filmmaker who graduated from the Saint Etienne School of Fine Art and Design in France. She is the editor of Janus femzine, an art edition in the mood for feminism, and the co-founder of female moving image duo Twin Automat. In her multi-faceted oeuvre, Irini Karayannopoulou explores diverse media such as painting, drawing, collage, print and moving image. She often borrows and re-appropriates imagery from the international press in ways that construct different meanings. Irini Karayannopoulou is represented by Polana Institute in Warsaw and A. Antonopoulou gallery in Athens.