"Breath traces", Stella Bakatsi's latest artworks

20:58:00 art exhibition , arts , Stella Bakatsi , Technohoros Art Gallery , tobacco 0 Comments

Video translation: I was holding a cigarette in my hand and I remember that at some time I looked at insistently the filter with the imprints of my breathing coloring it with that characteristic yellow color.  I felt like recording in the filter the moments of my life, each thought, each sentiment with my each breathing. I began to gather the filters, to gather my own moments as well as my friends and other persons that I even had a few minutes communication. I did this for five years and I could say that I gathered memories from the five recent years of my life.

Entering therefore in this process, I was occupied by the idea of smoking.  From the one side is the person with passions and dependences from various substances - talking about tobacco - the addiction, the conscience and simultaneously the refusal of conscience of the repercussions in his health and the environment, from the other side is the labour of the workers in the tobacco fields, the smoke industry, the promotion of the product, the packet design in order to be aesthetically more "attractive", the economic and environmental outcome in connection with the indescribable human behavior of throwing the cigarette leftovers on the pavements, roads etc.

All these thoughts led me to a personal narration, gathering parcels of cigarettes, smoke, ash and cigarette leftovers. In this collection of material participated more than two hundred friends and relatives.  - Stella Bakatsi

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Technohoros Art gallery presents Stella Bakatsi and her latest artworks under the title "Breath Traces" from February 6th to March 2nd 2013. Stella Bakatsi has been involved in sculpture - ceramics for several years and with this exhibition she goes a step further by showing a totally revolutionary facet of her talent.

The last five years, Stella, created a series of 26 mixed media works - mostly collages from cigarette packets, cigarette leftovers, cigarettes, filters, tabacco - an installation and a video. The exhibition theme is about the existence of the smoke in our everyday life in the sense of passion, addiction, dependence and enjoyment as well as the repercussions of smoking for smokers and non-smokers.

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Stella Bakatsi was born in Trikala (Thessaly) in 1945. From 1964 to 1968 she studied English Literature in the University of Athens. From 1974 to 1977 she studied ceramics in the Central London Institute of Adult Education. She participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Greece, The UK, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium and South Korea.

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Solo exhibitions:

2013 - "Breath Traces", Technohoros art gallery, Athens

2011 - "Through the lens", Archeological Museum, Aegina

2011 - "Through the lens", Eugenides Foundation, Athens

2007 - "Flows", Red gallery, Athens

2000 - The Mill, Thessaloniki

1996 - The Mill, Thessaloniki

1994 - Attilio, Familiar art, Athens

1992 - "Earth, Water, Fire", Hour Gallery, Athens

1980 - Hour Gallery, Athens

Stella's artworks can be found in the Choson Royal Kiln Museum (South Korea), in Poomo Museum (Finland), in Musée Ariana (Geneva) and in many private collections. She lives and works in the city of Athens (Greece).

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