THE OTHERNESS OF MARIANNA IGNATAKI
Marianna Ignataki // In a deep, dark forest they were braiding the beards of parrots in love
May 15 – June 08
CAN Gallery is presenting Marianna Igtataki’s solo show tomorrow with the opening at 20:00 p.m. Referencing Chinese philosophy and tradition, bearded ladies and hairmen, the circus and the opera, Marianna Ignataki’s exhibition deals with issues of gender, identity, exclusion and otherness, and concepts such as beauty and the grotesque that persistently appear in her work the last few years.
Her figures appear both dominant and dominating, with no signs of vulnerability, hiding or revealing themselves behind masks or hair, at the same time when ideas of the terrible and the absurd are constantly juxtaposed between alternation and coexistence. This is a world where “being different” is not only the subject of urban myths, clichés or carnival disguises, the subject of anthropological curiosity or ridicule but a new reality/regularity.
In the current show as well as in her recent show in the Municipal Art Gallery of Thessaloniki, the artist places issues of racism and race side by side to issues of identity and gender. According to Darwin’s theories of sexual choice the beard of a white woman only casts doubt on her gender, while a beard in a black woman even disputes her origin as a human. Similarly, instances where gender identity or gender expression differs from the assigned sex are being treated as exotic birds. Ignataki’s work take us exactly there, in the mysterious, deep, dark forest where one can find parrots in love.
ABOUT ARTIST
Marianna Ignataki was born in Thessaloniki in 1977 and she currently lives in Berlin. She begun her studies in architecture at the Technische Universität in Vienna and then she moved to France where she studied Visual Arts at the School of Fine Arts of Saint-Etienne. Between 2010-2017 she lived and worked in Beijing, China. She has had seven solo exhibitions to date, namely “In a deep, dark forest they were braiding the beards of parrots in love” at the Municipal Art Gallery of Thessaloniki in Alaca Imaret (2018), “Josie, the Armor and the Hairman” at CAN Christina Androulidaki gallery, Athens (2017), ”The End of Magic” at Outpost Project Space, Amsterdam (2012), the “Sphinx” in Fake Space gallery, Beijing (2011), “This Joke Ain’t Funny Anymore” curated by Apostolos Kalfopoulos in Zina Athanasiadou gallery, Thessaloniki (2009), “Coitus Interruptus” (double solo show) in Public Room Project Space, Skopje (2008), and one more show in cooperation with Lola Nikolaou at Fleming gallery, Thessaloniki (2004).
She has participated in a number of group shows in Greece, China, Spain, Holland, France, Germany and the US. She is represented by CAN Christina Androulidaki gallery, Athens | www.can-gallery.com
ADRESS:
CAN CHRISTINA ANDROULIDAKI GALLERY
42 ANAGNOSTOPOULOU STR
10673 ATHENS GR
T/F +30.210.3390833
OPENING HOURS:
Tue – Fri: 11am – 3pm / 5pm – 8pm
Saturday: 11am – 4pm
Also by appointment
