Chloe and Irini*  [GR: Χλόη & Ειρήνη]

On a weekly basis, I collect flowers from a local flower shop named “Works of Nature” [GR:Έργα Φύσης], and bring them to the gallery for the exhibition.

Through the eerie, melodic voice of Flery Dandonaki Chloe and Irini sing to each other: 

• Λίγα λουλούδια αν θέλεις στείλε μου και πάλι φίλε μου, απόψε. 
• Λουλούδια ο κόσμος πλημμύρισε, έλα και μύρισε, έλα και κόψε. 

Lyrics:

– Would you be so kind as to send me some flowers again tonight, my friend? 

– Come and take a whiff of the world, overflowing with flowers, and feel free to pick them as well.

Shown at:

“L’écume des jours” Ο Αφρος Των Ημερων

An exhibition filled with the aroma of flowers, friendship, love and hope.

Flowers and friendships, like most things in life, need care and love in order to flourish.

*The names Chloe and Irini have a direct translation from Greek, which means “Grass” and “Peace” respectively.

–

Excerpt from the press release:

In Boris Vian’s “Froth on the Daydream (L’Écume des jours)” a lily grows in the lung of the heroine, the doctor recommends that the patient surround herself with flowers. Flowers are both medicine and poison. The walls are rounded. The room narrows. The world around us grows dangerously small.

Once again the sound of war approaches us.

The exhibition “L’Écume des jours (Ο Αφρος Των Ημερων)  presents works by 40 contemporary Greek artists, with themes around the flower. We have all painted flowers since our childhood. All artists have at some point dealt with the theme of the flower, tracing its symbolism or simply capturing its beauty. Some works were pre-existing, some were adapted, and many were created for this exhibition. Thus all the works in the exhibition are “flowers from my friends “*, where not only the multifaceted symbolism of flowers is important, but also the significance of the gesture itself. Works as diverse as their creators.

The result, an imaginary garden in bloom from April 19 to May 21, 2022, at Gallery 7, in Athens.

*In 1990 Alexis Akrithakis exhibited “Flowers for his suicidal friends” at Gallery 7.

-Chloe Alrithaki