A49 Art Space presents the first solo painting exhibition by photographic artist ION in the city where he grew up, lives, and works.
A visual cartography of hidden human thoughts. A study of the soul’s small wounds, of enantiodromia, existential isolation, and paradox. The whisper of the Ego, the dialogue between conscious and unconscious, the struggle for a moment of harmony. Their sound? Muted, almost silent.
With “Human Conditιων,” ION explores the secret, the hidden, the solitary. His images borrow lightly from the space and time of their subjects to present the viewer with a digital painting interlaced with photographic interventions and collage elements — an unusual, hybrid relationship. Time does not merely hint; it insinuates itself into the space as part of the composition itself. His mood, at times reverent, at times fetishistic, never loses its investigative gaze.
The exhibition consists of 80 images (a selection from the 160 the artist created) and approaches its subject through two contrasting yet complementary visual languages. Created during the pandemic, it premiered on January 20, 2024, at the METS Arts Centre in Athens. In Kalamata, ION debuts two new works — “The Portrait of Him and Me” and “The French Lieutenant’s Mistress” — alongside two oil paintings with Picasso-influenced gestures.
During the exhibition, some works will rotate, so each visit reveals something new.
