SNF-SART Resident Kostis Velonis
Today Greek artist Kostis Velonis arrives to the Siena Art Institute for the start of his residency, supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Kostis Velonis lives and works in Athens. He holds an MRes in Humanities and Cultural Studies from London Consortium (Birkbeck College, ICA, AA, Tate). He studied Arts Plastiques/ Esthétiques at Université Paris 8 (D.E.A). He earned his PhD from the Department of Architecture, N.T.U.A University of Athens. Currently Velonis is Associate Professor at Athens School of Fine Arts. Velonis has participated in exhibitions and residencies internationally
Kostis Velonis’ sculptures explore the comic and awkward condition of the object as a projection of an anthropocentric narrative with allegories of everyday life and mythological plots. Throughout his work, the emphasis is placed on the moral implications of the failure and clumsiness caused by daydreaming and the reality that frustrates it. The context of this reading is equally articulated in the "common hearth" of the public forum with a systematic vocabulary of forms and materials that suggests modernist writing in a range of architectural typologies, from the main parts of the ancient Greek theatre (stage, stands, orchestra) to the political steps and propaganda booths of the Russian avant-garde.
