Reclining Artist, the Artist is Reclining

Installation view

Reclining Artist, the Artist is Reclining, 2021, solo exhibition at Eleni Koroneou gallery, Athens

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?

Taking as a starting point a series of paintings that I had completed in 2010 in my hometown, Chania, I get inspired to paint again. Weaving a personal story of nature and myself, I continue my research on ideas of wandering, time, place, and sense of belonging.

I return to the medium of painting and portray landscapes that seem disrupted by time and space. Employing a soft palette, I capture 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.

*Further info here

Reclining Artist, the Artist is Reclining, 2020, iPhone, sound, 5 min 38 sec (on loop)

Installation view

Just kidding (Dildo in the woods), 2010-20, oil on canvas, 100 x 120 cm

I held still waiting for the pleasure to dull (Pink rock), 2021, oil on canvas, 60 x 50 cm

See? I had seen it precisely this way (Green face), 2010-21, oil on canvas, 25 x 36 cm

I nodded, yes, as if I had everything (Matisse), 2021, oil on canvas, 60 x 80 cm

There was a promise in it (The pond), 2021, oil and acrylic on canvas, 140 x 150 cm

I thought something about love (Lazy River), 2020, oil on canvas, 140 x 150 cm

I was falling into something (Maybe), 2020, oil and acrylic on canvas
40 x 50 cm

I let myself imagine what I wanted (Sublime succulents), 2010, oil on canvas, 130 x 140 cm

I woke to the sound of laughter (Trees), 2010, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

I could believe anything new (The goats), 2010, oil on canvas, 121 x 131 cm

I had faith in them (Swinging girls), 2010, oil on canvas, 61 x 77 cm

Eleni Bagaki