The photography exhibition titled “The Superreal” by internationally acclaimed artist Philip Tsiaras opened on Thursday, November 19, at the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, in the framework of the 50th TIFF. The exhibition will be open until December 6.
Present at the opening was TIFF’s president George Corraface, who expressed his enthusiasm at Philip Tsiaras’s work. “I am impressed at this man’s ability to present aspects of ordinary life in a completely unique way. He trasforms pieces of our lives, which are considered rather banal, into moments of special meaning,” remarked Mr Corraface.
Philip Tsiaras toured visitors through the exhibition, which is curated by Vangelis Ioakimidis. The artist pointed out that this exhibition contains 38 years of creation, confronting him with his history and making him realize how hard he has worked so far. “It is always pleasant when an objective viewer with a fresh eye gathers your work and exhibits it. This action helps me reflect on my way of thinking 30 or 10 years ago,” Philip Tsiaras commented. The renowned artist, a Greek of the Diaspora, is an official guest of TIFF’s golden jubilee edition, which he described as “an amazing occassion, which brings artists and audience into the heart of contemporary art.” He added: “It is a first class Festival, and proves what Thessaloniki can accomphish in the art world. I sincerely hope the government continues its funding.”
The retrospective photography exhibition “Superreal” by Philip Tsiaras, presented in Greece for the first time, offers audience the opportunity to enjoy more than 200 selected artworks ranging from the 1970s to the present day. Through these, the artist reveals the way he can structure the world, outside and beyond reality. The exhibition consists of five sections: “Faces,” “Motion,” “Family,” “Self,” and “Places.”
In front of works from the “Faces” section, Philip Tsiaras stressed that these works belong to the early years of his career, a stage all artists are bound to experience. Next, walking before “Motion” photographs, the artist talked about a “very cinematic piece of [his] work,” adding that “the feeling an artist experiences when he sees his first works and pinpoints all these things he would have done differently, is beautiful. You comprehend the unique beauty of growing up and becoming experienced.” In “Family” and “Self” sections, Philip Tsiaras’s lens captures snapshots of relatives in his Boston home, along with personal quests. The exhibition tour concluded with photographs in the “Places” section. Among these works there are photos of the Parthenon shot by the artist in early 1980s when he had come to Athens on a scholarship. He commented on them: “These are definitely places which many people may find boring to see. I tried to give them a new dimension, using geometrical shapes, thread and other materials on the photograph.”
