mariaikonomopoulou.com

when things come together

installation with works by Reginald Drooduin and Maria Ikonomopoulou

15/9 - 18/11 | group show Buddies 23 | atelier Herenplaats | Rotterdam (NL)
opening Friday 15 September 17.00 h

Herenplaats is a centre for neurodiverse artists in Rotterdam. In a series of exhibitions titled Buddies, external artists are invited to collaborate and show their work with a chosen Herenplaats artist.
I am inspired by the work of my buddy Reginald Drooduin and we work together on a special presentation.

Alteration #3

curated by Liesje Vandenbroeck en Philip Aguirre

A new version of the installation with cloth bags filled with dry food and tablecloths from the family heritage. The piece is inspired by life in my grandmother's village in Peloponnese where I spend the summers as a child. Handmade pouches from discarded textiles were the traditional way of preserving food in rural Greece before the advent of plastic bags in the 1970s.

thanks to the generous support by CBK Rotterdam

Repetitions II

5/9 - 7/10 2023 | group show
Citronne gallery, Athens (GR)

Nikos Alexiou, Beppe Caturegli, Panos Charalambous, Thalia Chioti, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Alekos Kyrarinis, Christina Mitrentse, Nina Papaconstantinou, Nikos Podias, Efi Spyrou, Myrto Xanthopoulou

Repetitions I

27/5 - 17/9 | group show
Citronne gallery, Poros (GR)

Nikos Alexiou, Beppe Caturegli, Panos Charalambous, Thalia Chioti, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Alekos Kyrarinis, Christina Mitrentse, Nina Papaconstantinou, Nikos Podias, Efi Spyrou, Myrto Xanthopoulou

Hic Rhodus

27/5 - 24/6
group show curated by Apostolis Artinos
space 52 | Athens (GR)

where the wild things grow

28/4 - 14/4 2023
contribution to a series of interventions in the public space with the installation Artiphysical
curated by Counterpublics
Fix Park, Drakopoulou Park, Athens (GR)

South Explorer 2023

Spaces Between Us on show at De Vitrine of the apartment building De Hoge Maas, Charloisse Hoofd 47, Rotterdam | curated by Anne Opmeer | on view until 24 /7
On Sunday 23/4 15.00 – 16.00 h artist talk with moderator Ivo van den Baar

The H(a)L - Het Archief #13

3/2 - 26/2
Maria Ikonomopoulou - Alteration
Wim Havens - The Returnables
curated by Herman Lamers
The H(a)L | Robert Fruinstraat 52 | Rotterdam

This is a half bath. Sculptures

group show
27/10/22 - 15/1/23
Mulier Mulier gallery | Brussels (BE)

Platforms Project 2022

with ANTENNES art collective - booth 55
curated by Angeliki Douveri and Eva Kekos

Platforms Project 2022 - Independent Art Fair | October 13 – 16
Nikos Kessanlis exhibition space | School of Fine Arts | 256 Piraeus str. | Athens

Art prize Charlois 2022

21/8 - 9/10 | elevated cycle path Doklaan, Charlois | Rotterdam (NL)

Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom is part of the competition for the Art prize Charlois 2022, an initiatief of Cultuur Werkplaats Tarwewijk. Works of 27 artists, selected by a professional jury are printed on banners and the will be on show in the public space of the district Charlois. The choice for the Art Prize is in the hands of the inhabitants of the area.

The original piece is a commissioned work for the new building of primary school 'Wereld op Zuid' Rotterdam. He consists of 25 prints on canvas panels on which flowers are embroidered. The prints show different meshes created by the handwritten names of the schoolchildren with interweaving vertical lines. The flowers were embroidered in cooperation with a number of the schoolchildren's mothers.

finissage show SETTINGS | artists talk

Sunday 24 July 2022 | 15.00h | Pictura | Dordrecht (NL).
Finissage of the show SETTINGS and artists talk with the three artists Kathrin Wolkowicz, Fatima Barznge, Maria Ikonomopoulou and moderator Stijn Kemper.

Geschreven Podcast SETTINGS

SETTINGS door de ogen van: Kees Klok, historicus & schrijver/dichter. Klok schrijft voor Lychnari (het Nederlandstalig tijdschrift over het hedendaagse Griekenland) evenals een van de kunstenaars van SETTINGS, Maria Ikonomopoulou.
lees meer hier: geschrevenpodcast

SETTINGS

11/6 - 24/7 | Pictura | Dordrecht (NL)

Fatima Barznge, Maria Ikonomopoulou and Kathrin Wolkowicz make a selection of each other's and their own work and arrange one room each.
This intriguing concept grew out of conversations the artists had with each other over a number of years. With SETTINGS they bring these into the open, this time not in words but in images. The three settings are in dialogue with each other and together form the exhibition.

RETOUR

20 May - 30 September 2022
Verhalenhuis Belvédère, Rotterdam (NL)

As an artist in residence I am working on an exhibition in the former house/studio of Wally Elenbaas (Rotterdam artist 1912-2008) on the third floor of the current Verhalenhuis Belvédère in Rotterdam.
We share Greece as a source of inspiration and that is the common thread in the exhibition RETOUR.

Art Brussels 2022

29 April - 1 May
Mulier Mulier gallery
booth C : 36 | section : prime
Tour & Taxis, Brussels ( BE)

Alteration book

Sunday 21 November at 15.00h
Launch publication and artists talk
Museum Rijswijk (NL)

order the book here

The circular food production in the 1960s and the minimal use of plastic – still a luxury product at the time – that I witnessed as a child during my summer vacations with my grandmother were the inspiration for the installation Alteration for the Textile Biennale Food For Thought 30|8|2021-16|1|2022 at Museum Rijswijk.
This publication, in which I tell the story of the small mountain village based on my memories and observations, is part of the work Alteration and a tribute to the place that has shaped me most.

INTENS

9|10 - 28|11 2021
Marcel Westdorp, Silvia B., Maria Ikonomopoulou, Mirjam Somers
ARWE gallery, Gouda (NL)

Groot Rotterdams Atelier Weekend

25 | 26 september 2021
Bosland Studio's

Food for Thought

30|8|2021 - 16|1|2022
The installation Alteration with 130 cloth bags filled with dry food next to five piles of tablecloths is especially made for the Textile Biennial at the Museum of Rijswijk (NL) curated by Diana Wind

article by Maria Katsounaki

21|10|2020
I Kathimerini
A very gentle mention about my solo show To-Date on my favorite newspaper by Maria Katsounaki
©photo: Anne Deschuytere

To - Date

12|9|2020 - 25|10|2020
solo show co-curated by Gelly Gryntaki
Mulier Mulier gallery (BE)
"In a continuous fluidity and movement, Ikonomopoulou’s artistic research moves around several thematic centres, beyond representation, keeping all of her works connected through conceptual lines. Her artworks do not create specificities but are open to continuous renewal. Her artistic practice hence cannot be considered as linear but rhizomatic. In this sense her new body of work, deriving from the multiple conceptual midpoints her previous ones has produced and adopting the more experimental and fragmental form of études continue, transform and renew her research in the idea of border, connecting the fear of the Other and the need for safety with the immense –limitless– amount of information we receive in a daily basis."

Great Rotterdam Atelier Weekend

26|9| 2020 - 27|9|2020
Open Studio's @ Bosland
We are a small coherent group of professional artists, working in completely different disciplines : Hans Wilschut, Ellemieke Schoenmaker, Lizan Freijzen, Silvia B., Maria Ikonomopoulou

Surroundings

4|7|2020 - 30|8|2020
Mulier Mulier gallery Knokke (BE)

Art & Language, Tadashi Kawamata, Fischli & Weiss, Beat Streulli, Robert Mapplethorpe, Dan Graham, Jef Wall, Guy Van Bossche, Marc Vanderleenen, Bradley Kronz, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Jack Early, Andy Warhol

Publieke Werken 2020

9|7|2020 - 9|8|2020
Rotterdam

A poster with my work Trapped . 2020, is part of the first edition of the project Public Works Rotterdam and can be seen until 9 August on the pedestrian path of the Schiekade towards Hofplein in Rotterdam.

Anthology - opening speech by Kees Weeda

8|3|2020 Walgenbach art&books, Rotterdam
On my work table at home is a beautiful Perspex book display stand, the kind you see in better quality bookshops. The stand holds a book, an indecipherable book, which I often read. The pages are covered with lines, dashes, full stops, but they do not form letters. And yet I read it. I probably need to offer some explanation, even for a group of people for whom metaphors and paradoxes are everyday fare. The book, really more the size of a brochure, was made by two artists: Maria Ikonomopoulou and Anastasia Mina. They both made 6 drawings, and made 1 together. The book has two front covers and no back: when you have seen the work of one artist, you have to turn the book around to see the other’s work. Or keep turning the pages, in which case you’ll see half of the book upside down. Which, at the same time, subtly raises the issue of top and bottom in abstract art. It is produced on Moleskine Folio 100gsm acid-free paper. The cover is made from top quality Saunders Waterford watercolour paper, 300gsm, glued on 4 sides, acid-free and age-resistant, made in England. (This so that you can picture it). It is called syn[chrono]sides - with the word chrono in square brackets. I bought it in 2014.
How can you read a book that has no letters? You might say that you can only look through it, and in the first years that I had the work, that is what I did. But at some point I noticed that I started looking at the pages differently: I began to read them. (Read and touch because there are intervening pages that, like braille, consist solely of raised dots.) And then I ‘read’ the story of Maria. Admittedly, I have some prior knowledge, but even so, it is fascinating to think how this work is a kind of pars pro toto for Maria’s oeuvre. The precision, the love, imagination and the beauty of all her work are reflected in the pages of this little book. And if you buy the monograph, you will see – in so far as the connoisseurs don’t already know – that these qualities typify all of her work. And then – at least for me – a fascinating contrast emerges, which may not be that at all but, for the sake of argument, I assume it is. Those familiar with Maria’s biography might be surprised by the intricacy, perhaps even the unobtrusiveness of her work. A conversation with her soon turns to politics, the role of art and the artist in society, the deplorably scant resources this country accords the imagination, and the injustice of the world in general.
Such conversations clearly reveal Maria’s dauntless courage and perseverance. Qualities you sorely need, even in a country where everything seems to be well organised. Although it is generally the case that young artists struggle to build a professional practice after graduating, for someone still learning the language, and who doesn’t yet have a residence permit, things are a little more complicated. You can only survive by working a variety of jobs, and retrain so that you’re qualified to teach – preferably children in deprived communities. And, meanwhile, continue to work, keep working long and intensely. In his wonderful biographical sketch of Shostakovich, Julian Barnes writes, “Art is the whisper of history, heard above the noise of time.” I could not describe Maria’s work with any greater accuracy. It is not the grand gesture of installations, fist-thick paint on copious square metres of canvas or ‘in your face’ socio-political critique. Even in her commissioned monumental work, such as the talisman cabinet for the Ronald Macdonald house (1998), she avoids the grand gesture and seeks compassion for the world in the precision of her visual power. Or the intervention at the Athens art fair in 2010: a series of vegetables and herbs in pots on the steps of the building, with the title of the work cut out above it as a garland: Growing Hope - in my opinion the main driver of her artistic practice. Whispered hope that will only grow stronger and more beautiful through the patina of time.
Hey, there you are, Maria said when she came by to pick up the work she wanted to photograph and saw the painting we bought from her in 1994 or thereabouts. She gently tapped it on the top and at that moment I understood why an artist feels the need to document her work, as we can see in the Anthology. Naturally, it’s primarily to create an overview, but there is also a need to hold the work, to see that it’s being well cared for. She herself feels in two minds about it: a monograph offers clear insights into her practice and yet reflecting on her own work is not Maria’s favourite pastime. I’m happier, she says, when I make things rather than reflect on them. The painting that Maria tapped is a small portrait of a child painted on wood, an intriguing, somewhat asymmetric face of a child looking at the viewer. A sober colour palette and great implicit expressiveness. The portrait is painted on plywood, with two panels mounted left and right, painted black, which fold together to close over the painted panel in the middle. If you do that (“if you’ve had enough of looking at it,” said Maria then), what you see on the wall is a black square.
The work dates from 1994 and over the years I started thinking about why I found it so intriguing. In the late 14th century the triptych rapidly emerged, mainly as an altarpiece, with scenes painted on the backs as well as the fronts of the panels. An efficient way to tell a story; if the piece is free-standing, the painter has six images to tell his tale, six images (and two when the panels are closed) that tell a coherent story. In Maria’s ‘triptych’ of the child's face, only 1 panel is painted, the other five are black. Open, it measures 69x34 cm. When the panels are closed, a square, black piece of wood measuring 34x34x5cm hangs on the wall. And instantly inspires another, unmistakable association, with the black Suprematist painting by Kazimir Malevich. The 14th century and Malevich, unified in a small portrait. The mystery of the painting emerges bit by bit. What initially seems to be an aid for the viewer is a portal into the mystique of painting: here is a work of art that combines the tradition of the 14th century pictorial narrative convention with one of the most revolutionary advances in painting: absolute zero, which Malevich wanted to attain. And the association goes a level deeper. When it went on display in the 1915 exhibition in St. Petersburg, the “Black Square” was hung in the ‘sacred corner’ of the room, the spot where Russians hang their Christian icons. Open the panels of the painting by Maria Ikonomopoulou, look at the portrait of the child in the white lace collar and you will appreciate what she has made: a beautiful icon.
Incidentally, I have not often closed the shutters. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just one more example of the beauty that can be seen in the wonderful Anthology. In my home its place will be next to the Perspex book stand.
less8|3|2020 Walgenbach art&books, Rotterdam
On my work table at home is a beautiful Perspex book display stand, the kind you see in better quality bookshops. The stand holds a book, an indecipherable book, which I often read. The pages are covered with lines, dashes, full stops, but they do not form letters. And yet I read it. I probably need to offer some explanation, even for a group of people for whom metaphors and paradoxes are everyday fare. The book, really more the size of a brochure, was made by two artists: Maria Ikonomopoulou and Anastasia Mina. They both made 6 drawings, and made 1 together. The book has two front covers and no back: when you have seen the work of one artist, you have to turn the book around to see the other’s work. Or keep turning the pages, in which case you’ll see half of the book upside down. Which, at the same time, subtly raises the issue of top and bottom in abstract art. It is produced on Moleskine Folio 100gsm acid-free paper. The cover is... read more

Maria Ikonomopoulou . Anthology

8|3|2020 - 30|6|2020
Walgenbach art&books, Rotterdam

book launch and exhibition
Kees Weeda opening speech (NL)

rf - intervew

1|3|2020
ram foundation
Intervew by Linda Selena

Bright Days Ahead

5|12|2019 - 31|1|2020
Commeter gallery, Hamburg (DE)

100th anniversary I Kathimerini

2019

During the last 10 years I often use editions of the Greek daily newspapers I Kathimerini as material for my artworks. A lot of editions my mother used to send me by post and more recent editions, which dear friends are collecting for me, have been transformed into art pieces.
Since the news paper is celebrating his 100th anniversary this year, Maria Katsounaki and Maria Kakaounaki have made a reportage about the readers. Video by Chronis Tsichlakis and Kostis Papadakis 100th anniversary I Kathimerini

Cover book Knot to Knot

2019

I feel honored to have the image of my work 'Need to Grow-2' on the cover of the book 'Kompo ton kompo' (knot to knot) by Dimitra Louka.
It is a collection of narrated stories, written in the idiom of the speaking individuals. People of the Greek countryside with no higher education are telling their life stories by using the astonishing power of the Greek language. The book is beautifully published by Kichli Publishing.

Orde en Chaos

11|5|2019 - 14|2|2019
Sint-Joriskerk, Amersfoort

400 years after the cruel end of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt's life, 26 artists are invited by gallery The Ploegh in his birthplace Amersfoort, to reflect on his heritage for The Netherlands. I am proud to be part of the selection and contribute to this show inspired by his life and work with three pieces.

opening word by Landa van Vliet

3|5|2019
Goethe Institute, Rotterdam
We don't know any better than mythology being thing of the past; tales of gods and goddesses, love, betrayal, war, births that happened centuries ago, and deaths of heroes and the vanquished, with endlessly branching family trees. No one needs an explanation to understand myths - tales of earthly and metaphysical societies, which are translated into contemporary retellings generation after generation. In the work of Maria Ikonomopoulou, we see the world around us. Greek by birth, lucky lady, from a family tree forged by a civilization thousands of years old. Do myths run in her blood?
What do we see? An amalgam of techniques and processes; reworkings of Greek newspapers, paper cutouts, embroideries and drawings on paper and photographs, photos, yarn, wool, beeswax - an oeuvre and a life of endless patience and surrender. Like an industrious curly-haired bee, every day she processes her observations and fashions them into a labyrinth at the hive's very heart.

Consider this: every newsprint flower is cut by hand; every newspaper flower has multiple layers held together by a small embroidered pistil baskets full. Baskets? Maria applies equal precision to minor details. The embroidered flowers, which will become the material for an artwork, are placed in one basket, not an ordinary container. Her practice is suffused with such refinement and love of the material. Like a myth, a family history and an allegory of the generally human, the attention she lavishes on minutiae is a reflection on the infinite.

The unhurried process of creation is often a social one in which she works with people who cross her path. Youn and old cut and embroider with her, using a variety of techniques. She uses the power of craftsmanship and connects people in her public works such as 'Growing Ground', where plants, herbs and chalk drawings are installed in the public space. It is not just the gesture, the myth of the artist who speaks out, who radiates power, but rather an invocation of public responsibilities; all of us must care for the young plants of the street. She 'softens' the city, she lets it touch our hearts.

Maria Ikonomopoulou said to me: You can keep pointing a finger shouting and saying: They have to change it (see her series 'Wallpapers' and 'Zero' in which, with paper flowers and embroidery critique, she meditates like a monk on worldly affairs). THEY, the politicians, have set us on this slippery slope, but the only thing we can and probably should do, is tackle things together, stop pointing at each other. Don't grieve for the lack of guides, a theme she incorporated into 'Lost', a work inspired by a sculpture, the charioteer of Delphi with the broken reins. We're looking for people who seize the reins and lead the country in the right direction. For decades, the powerbrokers and politicians have believed in their own credibility, hiding behind sham solutions then suddenly reappearing and brazenly proposing short-term solutions. How can that happen? 'Corruption' is her sobering answer.

Ten years of crises, twelve new laws concerning the tax system. We, here, have the good fortune of enjoying her gently provocative artworks, with their pensive reflections and lightheartedness. It is the lightest form of crisis criticism imaginable - it stymies the myth of power struggles and affirms myth as poetry. It is Rotterdam-Greek-European-Taoism.

Keep travelling and returning home in your work, wherever that may be: Athens, Antwerp, Rotterdam. I hereby present you with a skein of scarlet wool to make sure we don't lose you, and you 'll never be without yarn. Stay with us, like Ariadne, to offer consolation and help to put this world into perspective in this mire of greed and misuse of power and the struggle for existence.

Landa van Vliet
May 2019
speech given during the exhibition Fragments 2013-2019 in the Goethe Institut, Rotterdam | translation by Lisa Holden | photo by Marieke van der Lippe

less3|5|2019
Goethe Institute, Rotterdam
We don't know any better than mythology being thing of the past; tales of gods and goddesses, love, betrayal, war, births that happened centuries ago, and deaths of heroes and the vanquished, with endlessly branching family trees. No one needs an explanation to understand myths - tales of earthly and metaphysical societies, which are translated into contemporary retellings generation after generation. In the work of Maria Ikonomopoulou, we see the world around us. Greek by birth, lucky lady, from a family tree forged by a civilization thousands of years old. Do myths run in her blood?
What do we see? An amalgam of techniques and processes; reworkings of Greek newspapers, paper cutouts, embroideries and drawings on paper and photographs, photos, yarn, wool, beeswax - an oeuvre and a life of endless patience and surrender. Like an industrious curly-haired bee, every day she processes her observations and fashions them into a labyrinth... read more

Fragments 2013 - 2019

3|5|2019 - 24|5|2019
solo show, Ubergangsweise # 8
Goethe Institute, Rotterdam

At the Beginning Was the Word

28|11|2018 - 17|1|2019
National Art Museum of China

part of the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Athens travels to China to be exposed at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC)
curated by Katerina Koskina and Anna Mykoniati

Meermanno Museum

2018

Proud to announce that the edition 11/45 of the artists book syn[chrono]sides with 13 original drawings by Anastasia Mina and Maria Ikonomopoulou is now part of the collection of the Meermanno Museum, House of the Book, The Hague (NL)

Canvas tv

10|2018
canvas.be

A short documentary (spoken language : dutch) about the works related to crisis in Greece.
Interview : Jan Blondeel
Camera : Louk Voncken

Old editions of Kathimerini trasformed ...

14|6|2018
newspaper I Kathimerini

"Old editions of Kathimerini transformed in pieces of Art and beauty"
article by Margarita Pournara

Unguided Tour

7|6|2018 - 30|6|2018
Martinos gallery, Athens (GR)

Vasilis Zografos . Irini Bachlitzanaki . Maria Ikonomopoulou

Bright Days Ahead

6|12|2017 - 30|1|2018
Commeter gallery, Hamburg (DE)

Women's Methodology

8|10|2017 - 10|12|2017
Mulier Mulier gallery, Knokke (BE)

Nancy Spero . Maria Ikonomopoulou . Judy Rifka . Karen Kilimnik . Jenny Holzer . Niki de Saint Phalle . Annette Messager . Claude Lalanne . Kimsooja . Kara Walker . Marthe Wéry . Barbara Kruger

Een 'carte postale' from the Greeks...

1|11|2017
I Kathimerini

'Een carte postale from the Greeks of Rotterdam'
article by Dimitris Athinakis

Rotterdam Metamorfosen

10|9|2017 - 1|1|2018
Verhalenhuis Belvédère, Rotterdam (NL)

Learning from Documenta

27|10|2016 - 13|12|2017
Cc Strombeek, Grimbergen(BE)

Learning from Documenta

27|10|2016 - 13|12|2017
S.M.A.K. Ghent (BE)

Learning from Documenta

27|10|2016 - 13|12|2017
BrassArt, Brussels (BE)

Be my Guest

29|9|2017 - 6|10|2017
VZ studio, Thessaloniki (GR)

Angeliki Douveri, Kyriaki Maurogeorgi, Maria Ikonomopoulou
curated by Vasilis Zografos

Bolero - station : Athens

3|7|2017 - 9/|7|2017
Eos gallery, Athens (GR)

BachliTzanakou (Irini Bachlitzanaki & Maria Tzanakou), Despina Meimaroglou, Els Vanden Meersch, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Myrto Xanthopoulou
curated by Maria Ikonomopoulou - Els Vanden Meersch

School Etymology

12|8|2017 - 16|8|2017
Friedrichsplatz, Kassel (DE)

public intervention during Documenta 14

syn[chrono]sides

7|6|2017
Hellenic Centre, London (GB)

presentation of the artist book and panel discussion
Anastasia Mina, Maria Ikonomopoulou with Nathalie Boobis

Kathimerini

12|4|2017
I Kathimerini newspaper

article by Dimitris Athinakis

The Greek Counter Example

6|4|2017 - 12|4|2017
MulierMulier gallery, Diplareios School, Athens (GR)

curated by Thanassis Moutsopoulos/Manos Stephanidis

School Etymology

6|4|2017 - 16|7|2017
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (GR)

public intervention during Documenta 14

Such a Tender Nothingness

2|12|2016 - 17|12|2016
Dutch Institute of Athens (GR)

curated by Angeliki Douveri

Growing Ground on Skai TV

3|10|2016
Skai TV

interview with Stavros Ioannidis

Growing Ground

Camera : Despina Evgenidou
Montage : Vasilis Stavropoulos

video: Growing Ground

Hommage to NIKOS ALEXIOU

16|9|2016 - 15|10|2016
CAN gallery, Athens (GR)

Nikos Alexiou, Lefteris Alexiou, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Lefteris Tapas, Dimitris Tataris. Stratis Tavlaridis

29th Moscow International Book Fair

7|9|2016 - 11|9|2016
29th International Book Fair, Moscow (RUS)

Delighted to announce that the artists book syn[chrono]sides, is part of the selection made by the Greek State Museum of Thessaloniki to be presented at the 29th Moscow International Book Fair.

Border Lines

23|6|2016 - 30|6|2016
De Aanschouw, Rotterdam

curated by Ivo van den Baar

rho[e]mb-[asm]-i

2016
Cube Art Editions

cover for a notebook commissioned by Cube Art Editions
23,5 x 15,5 cm /56 blank pages
folded silkscreen
ed. 400

The Rhombus as an option for the letter O was the beginning of this drawing. The state of Musing (that in Greek has the same origin as the word Rhombus) is what happens during the process of drawing.

Art Athina 2016

26|5|2016 - 29|5|2016
Art Athina fair, Athens (GR)

Mulier Mulier gallery, booth C5

Typography as an act of art

12|4|2016 - 20|9|2016
Greek State Museum, Thessaloniki (GR)

the artists book syn[chrono]sides is part of the show

finding Ling-Ling's head

April - September 2016
Cookie Butcher, Antwerp (BE)

works from the Verhaegen Family Collection (Part II)

syn[chrono]sides

22|12|2015 - 9|1|2016
Elika gallery, Athens (GR)

Browsing Sessions

4|10|2015
Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam

syn[chrono]sides

Art Athina 2015

4|6|2015 - 7|6|2015
Art Athina fair, Athens (GR)

MulierMulier gallery

Art Calendar Rotterdam 2015

contribution for page 4|5|2015

a piece inspired by the poem 'Tulips' of the dutch poet T. van Deel

Art Eco - Attitudes

9|1|2015 - 12|1|2015
Cc Strombeek Grimbergen, Brussels (BE)

syn[chrono]sides

30|11|2014
Walgenbach Art & Books, Rotterdam (NL)

launch of an artists book in limited edition (45) with drawings by Anastasia Mina and Maria Ikonomopoulou

Transformation

DEPO DARM Contemporary Art Space, Athens (GR)
10|12|2014 - 28|1|2015

curated by Artemis Potamianou
Christina Mitrentse, Elias Kafouros, Eva Marathaki, Giorgos Tserionis, Ino Varvariti, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Nikos Papadimitriou, Thanos Klonaris

a for Athens Voice

August 2014
cover for the summer edition of the free press Magazine, Athens Voice (GR)

ntvg Magazine

Januari 2014

The piece Growing Care Athens - 1, since 2012 part of the collection of the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, has been used for the cover of The Dutch Magazine for Medical Science.

Not About Flowers

2|6|2014 - 31|8|2014
Wilms gallery Venlo (NL)

The work of Maria Ikonomopoulou is many-sided. Using a range of modern and traditional techniques she creates beautiful pieces that raise a lot of questions about contemporary society.
Since 1991 Maria Ikonomopoulou has built up a small art collection. Four artists represented in her collection are invited to show new work: Alexandra Roozen, Katrijn Verstegen, Margriet Thissen en Rien Jansen.
Augustus 31 at 15.00 Maria Ikonomopoulou will talk in the gallery about her work and about her collection.

The Rule of Law and the Right to be Human

30/|4|2014 - 13|6|2014
Athens School of Fine Arts, 'Nikos Kessanlis' Exhibition Venue, Athens (GR)

curated by Thalia Vrachopoulos

O

5|2014

special contribution for the Tortuca #34, Art and Literature Magazine

O - Tortuca #34

10|5|2014

launching of the #34 edition of Tortuca, Art and Literature Magazine at the Poetry Center, Ghent (BE) with my special contribution O

Reflections on Art and Literature

22|2|2014 - 22|3|2014
Rosalux artists run space, Berlin (DE)

curated by Artemis Potamianou and Thalia Vrachopoulos

vpro radio De Avonden

30|8|2013

een interview with Anton de Goede
vpro radio

Lecture

11|8|2013
Coda museum Apeldoorn (NL)

Lecture about the two new series, Wallpapers and Crisis Transformation special made for the exhibition Coda PaperArt. Both series are inspired by the economical and social crisis that Greece has to deal with since 2009. Background information and more about the conditions during the making process will be shared with the public. As well as the similarities of the new installations with earlier ones and my relation to the paper material.

Kunstenfestival Watou 2013

6|7|20113 - 1|9|2013
Watou (BE)

reportage in trendbeheer

Paper Art

10|6|2013 - 27|10|2013
Coda Museum, Apeldoorn (NL)

Ms Europa 2

2013

The piece City Flowers - Futura is part of the collection of MS Europa 2 cruise ship, here to see next to a piece by Peter von Felbert.

Meeting Greece #1

8|6|2013 - 21|7|2013
MulierMulier gallery, Knokke (BE)

curated by Guy Van Bossche
Vlassis Caniaris, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Varvara Liakounakou, Eleni Paschalidis, Takis

Art Athina 2013

16|5|2013 - 19|5|2013
Art Athina fair, Faliro Pavillion, Athens (GR)

MulierMulier gallery, booth D5

Temporary / Timeless

10|1|2013
Amolf Institute, Amsterdam (NL)

Temporary / Timeless is a commission for the entrance of FOM institute AMOLF's newly built home. The floor piece is based on visual elements and textual phrases from current research projects. Many researchers from AMOLF's different laboratories contributed to this art work.

LUMC collection

2012

Two pieces of the series Growing Care - Athens are now part of the LUMC collection, Leiden (NL)

Novosibirsk- Graphic Arts Triennal

7|9|2012 - 28 |10|2012
Graphic Art Triennial, Novosibirsk (RUS)

Graphic Arts Triennal

7|9|2012 - 28 |10|2012
State Art Museum, Novosibirisk (RUS)

the Love Letters at the Graphic Arts Triennal

Dimensions of Paper

10|7|2012 - 9|9|2012
LUMC gallery, Leiden (NL)

Group show curated by Sandrine van Noord.
The piece Growing Interweaves is being especially realized for the show.
LUMC gallery

10 x 10 Ten artists and ten writers

12|6|2012 - 14|7|2012
Choros Tehnis 24 gallery, Athens (GR)

Following the Thread

2012
Elephant Magazine #9

article by Margherita Dessanay about the use of embroidery in contemporary art

Re:Rotterdam

9|2|2012 - 12|2|2012
Re:Rotterdam art fair, Rotterdam (NL)

Myths in Critical Times

Re : Rotterdam art fair

9|2|2012 - 12|2|2012
Re:Rotterdam art fair, Rotterdam (NL)

Critical Times

OCC (one Original Certified Copy one)

3|12|2011 - 14|1|2012
TinT gallery, Thessaloniki (GR)
50-1 gallery, Limasol (CY)

group show curated by Eleni Riga

Art Calendar Rotterdam 2012

City Fowers - Theokritos is my contribution for the page 10|2|2012 of the Art Calendar

Art Calendar 2012

11|11|2011

Launch of the Art Calendar 2012 with contributions of 366 artists, photographers and architects based in Rotterdam

Travel Messages publication

2010
Vlaardingen (NL)

Interactive project commissioned by the Kunstgebouw.
Citizens of the neighborhood Hoofdsteden in Vlaardingen are sharing their travel stories with me.
Why do we travel? What is it that we are looking for? Why do we need to share our travel experiences with others? How it comes that we observe differently our travel places than our living places?
Those are some of the questions we try to find answers on. Every week a new story is to read at the web site of the local free press.
All stories are bundled in a publication of 100 copies.

Tortuca # 26

2011

image contribution to the Literature and Art Magazine Tortuca # 26

Drawing Stories (2)

17|5|2011 - 16|7|2011
Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Athens (GR)

Graphos Biennale

22|5|2011 - 26|6|2011
Het Kruithuis, Den Bosch (NL)

The Love Letters at the Graphos Biennale

Art Athina 2011

11|5|2011 - 15|5|2011
Art Athina fair, Athens (GR)

Mulier Mulier gallery, booth B4

Article by Nelly Abravanel

17|4|2011
newspaper I Kathimerini (GR)

article by Nelly Abravanel about the exhibition Polyglossia

My page

Catalogue Polyglossia

edited by Marilena Karra, designed by A4 artdesign

Polyglossia

14|3|2011 - 30|6|2011
Onasis Cultural Center, Athens (GR)

curated by Marilena Karra
Nassos Daphnis, John Christoforou, Philolaos, Takis, Stephen Antonakos , Pavlos, Constantin Xenakis, Chryssa, Cris Gianakos, Jannis Kounellis, Lucas Samaras, Athena Tacha, Steve Gianakos, Lynda Benglis, Maria Klonaris / Katerina Thomadaki, Kalliopi Lemos, Jenny Marketou, Zoe Keramea, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Effie Paleologou, Evanthia Tsantila, Miltos Manetas, Katerina Christidi, Christina Dimitriadis, Vassiliea Stylianidou, Dimitris Tzamouranis, George Drivas, Maria Antelman, Giorgos Gripeos, Maria Zervou

Growing Memories

4|2011
Rex Magazine (NL)

Travel Messages

2010
Vlaardingen (NL)

Interactive project commissioned by the Kunstgebouw.
Citizens of the neighborhood Hoofdsteden in Vlaardingen are sharing their travel stories with me.
Why do we travel? What is it that we are looking for? Why do we need to share our travel experiences with others? How it comes that we observe differently our travel places than our living places?
Those are some of the questions we try to find answers on. Every week a new story is to read at the web site of the local free press.

Drawing Stories extended

The exhibition at the 50-1 gallery Limassol, Cyprus is extended until February the 26th.

Dimitris Foutris, Lefteris Tapas, Anastassis Stratakis, Nina Papaconstantinou, Nikos Navridis, Fryni Mouzakitou, Savella Michael, Panayiotis Michael, Eleni Kamma, Dionisis Kavallieratos, Elina Ioannou, Maria ikonomopoulou, Philippos Theodorides, Katerina Christidi, Pandelis Chandris, Yannis Scourletis, Eftihis Patsourakis, Antonis Donef, Dimitris Baboulis, Maro Michalakakos, Maria Loizidou, Thanos Klonaris, Christos Delidimos

WONDERBOOK

The Wonder of Our Art Collection on Allure of the Seas

produced and editied by International Corporate Art

Drawing Stories

20|12|2010 - 16|1|2011
50-1 gallery Limassol, Cyprus

Dimitris Foutris, Lefteris Tapas, Anastassis Stratakis, Nina Papaconstantinou, Nikos Navridis, Fryni Mouzakitou, Savella Michael, Panayiotis Michael, Eleni Kamma, Dionisis Kavallieratos, Elina Ioannou, Maria ikonomopoulou, Philippos Theodorides, Katerina Christidi, Pandelis Chandris, Yannis Scourletis, Eftihis Patsourakis, Antonis Donef, Dimitris Baboulis, Maro Michalakakos, Maria Loizidou, Thanos Klonaris, Christos Delidimos

GROOT GRAFIEK

3|12|2010 - 10|1|2011
Krabbedans, Eindhoven (NL)

Inge Aanstoot, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Jaron Korvinus, Wim Konings, Phoebe Maas, Saskia de Maree, Raw Color, BCXSY
During a year a group of artists and designers from Rotterdam and Eindhoven have being working on big size pieces in collaboration with the graphic studio Daglicht in Eindhoven. On show the results of the experiments.

Groot Grafiek

13|11|2010 - 6|12|2010
City Art Center, Rotterdam (NL)

Inge Aanstoot, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Jaron Korvinus, Wim Konings, Phoebe Maas, Saskia de Maree, Raw Color, BCXSY
During a year a group of artists and designers from Rotterdam and Eindhoven have being working on big size pieces in collarobation with the graphic studio Daglicht in Eindhoven. On show the results of the experiments with graphic techniques together with previous works of the participants.

Fantastische Fotografie:De Rotterdamse school toen

9|10|2010 - 7|11|2010
City Art Center Rotterdam

curated by Rommert Boonstra
Kimberly Clark, Iris van Dongen, Margi Geerlinks, Risk Hazekamp, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Juul Krayer, Ilse Leenders, Desiree Palmen, Schilte&Portielje, Bert Sissingh, Jean Marc Spaans, Marie Cecile Thijs, Lorelinde Verhees, Edwin Zwakman

Allure of the Seas

Taseis Figis - Escapism

27|9|2010 - 23|10|2010
Kourd gallery, Athens (GR)

Andreas Angelidakis, Andreas Vais, Giorgos Gyparakis, Lydia Dambassina, Irini Karagiannopoulou, Thanos Klonaris, Panos Kokkinias, Dimitris Baboulis, Kostas Bassanos, Socratis Nikoglou, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Nina Papaconstantinou, Rania Rangou, Vassiliea Stylianidou, Thanasis Totsikas, Iris Touliatou

Emma van Drongelen - Maria Ikonomopoulou

19|9|2010 - 7|11|2010
NEW UNTITLED gallery, Venlo (NL)

duo show

House & Garden Magazine

'Techni ipo Skian' article by Dora Christidou, House & Garden Magazine (GR)

Hidden Memories, Lost Traces

7|9|2010 - 14|9|2010
Sinop Art Biennial, Sinop (TR)

Maria Ikonomopoulou - Raf Thys

19|6|2010 - 17|7|2010
VAN DEN BERGE gallery, Goes (NL)

Spice Lamp

2010

Private commission for a lamp at the house of a professional cook in Rotterdam (NL)

Names of spices for cooking can be read during a dinner on the inside of the lamp

100 x 100

4|6|2010 - 6|6|2010
Koetshuis, Rotterdam (NL)

Zwervende Tentoonstellingen #15

Art Athina fair, with Mirta Demare gallery

Expanded Drawing

8|4|2010 - 5|6|2010
Isabel Hurley gallery, Malaga (SP)

curated by Pilar Ribal
Raymond Chaves & Gilda Mantilla, Guy Goldstein, Sybille Hotz, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Takehito Koganezawa, Katie Paterson, Michal Shamir, Sophia Tabatabadze, Stephan Thiel, Mariana Vassileva, Brigitte Waldach, Gal Weinstein

ALL ABOUT WORDS

15|2|2010 - 25|3|2010
MulierMulier gallery, Knokke-Zeist (BE)

Art & Language, Robert Barry, Georg Brecht, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Hanne Darboven, Niki de Saint Phalle, Robert Filliou, Jenny Holzer, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Arthur Köpcke, Josef Kosuth, Richard Long, Marcel Mariën, Michel Majerus, Dennis Oppenheim, Panamarenko, Raymond Pettibon, Chérie Samba, Guy Van Bossche, Ben Vautier, Bernar Venet, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner

In-scribe

3|2|2010 - 9|3|2010
Hellenic American Union, Athens (GR)

group show curated by Iris Kritikou

the art of being pure at heart

15/|12/|09
yatzer

Intimate Distances

5|11|2009 - 31|12|2009
Martinos antique & art gallery, Athens (GR)

What is making?

Symposium in the frame of the textile weekend, Tilburg

Gamma Epsilon Delta

22|10|2009 - 28|11|2009
Tint gallery, Thessaloniki (GR)

group show curated by Els Hanappe

Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom

2009
Primary school 'Wereld op Zuid', Rotterdam (NL)

Seasons Magazine

'Griekse Zonnesteek' artikel by Margriet de Groot (page 15,16 )

Water aan het woord

3|2009
Lychnari Magazine (NL)

article by Wim Oudshoorn

AMOLF

working on the sketch for an art piece at the entrence of the new building of AMOLF institute, Amsterdam

City Flowers - Athens at Expanded Ecologies

National Museum of Contemporary Art

Growing Interests at Expanded Ecologies

National Museum of Contemporary Art

Expanded Ecologies

11|6|2009 - 4|10|2009
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (GR)

group show curated by Daphne Vitali

Art Athina 2009

Art Athina fair
Mirta Demare international visual art, booth C3, Athens (GR)

Textiel Plus Magazine

The Spaces Between Us, article by Marjolijn van Duyn

water aan het woord (water speaking)

Ringdijk, Wilnis

booking the book

artists book with works of Evangelia Biza, Penny Gkeka, Vasso Gaivasse, Nina Papakonstantinou, Maria Ikonomopoulou, Giorgos Tserionis, trekst by Maria Aggeli, designed by Evangelia Biza.

ed. 50

almost ready

water aan het woord almost ready at the studio of Zuliani in Zoetermeer

in progress

taking the last descisions about the colors of the piece water aan het woord for Wilnis

ArtistInTheWorld

Art Rotterdam 2009

Art Rotterdam fair / booth 65 / Mirta Demare gallery

Avant/Apres/Nu

5|12|2008 - 11|1|2009
Museo de la Ciudad, Queretaro (MX)

Mexico

29|11|2008 - 23|12|2008
Queretaro (MX)

residency in Queretaro, invited by the Universidad Autonoma de Queretaro for a 10 day's visiting lectures at the Art department
Queretaro

Source-Threads of origins passing into the present

28|11|2008 - 11|1|2009
Mirta Demare gallery, Rotterdam (NL)

Fatima Barznge, Isabel Ferrand, Maria Ikonomopoulou

City flowers

Growing Care (Rotterdam)

During some months Ikonomopoulou took pictures of outer wall gardens that citizens of Rotterdam individually take care of and offer tp the public space.

At the City Art Center presents the installation City flowers of cut out prints as flowers and creates her own garden in the shape of climbing plants.

In a serie of other works details of the outer wall gardens, first names of their owners and names of the plants become all together a lace of cut out paper.

Growing care has been presented before in Athens Growing Care (Athens) and similar projects are planed during 2009 in Thessaloniki(GR) and Queretaro (MX)

Growing Care - Rotterdam

11/11 - 14/12

Rechtsachter
CBK Rotterdam
opening : 14/11
16.00 - 18.30 h
rechtsachter

URBAN GREEN

26|10|2008 - 21|12|2008
Poonberg gallery, Rotterdam (NL)

Publication 'water aan het woord'

the book - designed by Esther de Boer and edited by Simon Butter - contains stories the people of Wilnis have shared with the artists and is the source of inspiration for the definitive art piece, which will bear selected text fragments set in ceramic
ISBN 978 90 813 3771 7

‘water aan het woord’ is a collaboration piece of Elspeth Pikaar and Maria Ikonomopoulou, commissioned by the Municipality of Mijdrecht to create a monument on the spot the dyke burst 5 years ago in Wilnis and flooded a large area of the village

delivery : 11/3/2009

Flower Power

1|6|2008 -27|7|2008
Poonberg gallery, Rotterdam (NL)

group show

Art Athina 2008

22|5|2008 - 25|5|2008
Art Athina fair, Athens (GR)

Mirta Demare gallery, booth B27

kunst van de dag

Synergy

25|11|2007 - 15|1|2008
Mirta Demare, international visual art, Rotterdam (NL)

solo show

Domicilliary Tradition

4|10|2007 - 27|10|2007
CHEAP ART gallery, Athens (GR)

groep show curated by Gelly Grindaki

Emergency Room

03|9|2007 - 6|10|2007
Ileana Tounta Centre for Contemporary Art, Athens (GR)

Restart Art Athina 2007

Art Athina fair
Mirta Demare international visual art, Athens (GR)

'The Secret' in the AON collection

Het werk The Secret vorig jaar aangekocht door de AON collectie heeft een ere plaats gekregen in de Tollenaar en Wegener zaal van het kantoor op de Admiraliteitskade in Rotterdam.

Art Rotterdam fair

8|2|2007 - 12|2|2007
Rotterdam (NL)

Mirta Demare international visual art, booth 46

Museum Nagsael . 11 years

The publication contains colour photographs of all 132 exhibitions and essays by
Tanja Karreman, Marcel Moring and Ben Zegers.
Veenman Publishers, ISBN 90-8690-018-6

page 243
Self-portrait . 1997
ink, glass, acrylic,canvas, tin

A face drawn on a pane of glass that closed the passageway between the two spaces was superimposed on a painted portrait on the back wall. To make it impossible for viewers to make out the space between both portraits, a piece of perforated tin was placed behind the fish eye that reflected a distorted image of the viewer's eye.