Meletios Meletiou: Playground
Curated by Panos Giannikopoulos
8 Dec – 15 Jan 2023
Eins Gallery
Themidos 28, Limassol
3036, Cyprus
Eins Gallery presents the first solo exhibition of Meletios Meletiou’s work in Cyprus, titled ‘Playground’ curated by Panos Giannikopoulos.
‘Playground’ activates the sense of exploration and play in an adventurous manner. It blurs the line between danger and enjoyment with aggressive surfaces that contort and reverse their initial impressions. The artist presents compositions that take up the space’s textures, appearing to evolve, spread, form units, and engage autonomously in a game of balance.
Meletiou emphasizes the importance of play and pleasure, even when these words seem inconceivable. The hostile urban environment becomes visible in the exhibition with a playful disposition. Through the prism of a perilous “playground”, the artist returns to conceptualisations of childhood, a theme that preoccupies him in a wide range of his work.
After his solo presentation at the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in Rome, Meletiou decisively develops his body of work on the possibilities or failures of formalist reassertion and the appropriation of hostile architecture, the ability to change meaning or creatively bypass powers instilled in forms.
In ‘Playground’, he creates a space that imposes a circular path without corners. He transforms the intensely hostile elements into colourful works that alter their initial purpose: to negate a flat surface and create obstacles. Meletiou conveys the exuberance set by the spatial context of the title as a heterotopia but also as a place of negotiation of powers. Ultimately, he explores the paradox of childhood, mimicry, reproduction, and the potential for resistance to established structures, readjustment, and the joy of disruption.
–
Meletios Meletiou (b. 1989, Limassol, Cyprus) lives and works in Rome, Italy. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, graduating in Visual Arts and Decoration in 2016.
In 2022, he presented his solo exhibition Buffer Zone curated by Gaia Bobò at Pastificio Cerere Foundation and, on this occasion, released his artist book EPIDERMIS published by VIAINDUSTRIAE. In 2020, he exhibited the installation ReSize To Fit for the Una Vetrina project, curated by Giulia Pollicita. In 2016, he launched the Imaginary Friends project, consisting of workshops for migrants held between Lesbos and Athens, which was also published in the volume ‘The Others’.
Selected group exhibitions include: Porta Portese, SPAZIOMENSA, Rome, curated by Gaia Bobò (2021); Fenêtre Jaune Cadmium, curated by Sarah Linford, French Cultural Institute, Rome (2018); Maps-Spam, curated by Alessandra Arancio, Società Geografica Italiana/Villa Celimontana, Rome (2018); Developing Cities, curated by Angelica Gatto and Emanuele Riccomi, Superstudio, Milan (2018); Quattro artisti al Castello, curated by Cecilia Casorati, Castello di Santa Severa (2016).
Meletiou’s research delves into architectural and urbanistic practices, treating them as seismographs that capture social and political urgencies. The contextualization of this imagery is influenced by the realm of childhood and references to play, interpreted here as the antithesis of a potential reconstruction and recovery from a crisis. This exploration is triggered by the concept of ‘decorum,’ whereby the city’s patterns are examined through the lens of contradiction.
Eins is a contemporary art gallery based in Limassol, Cyprus. Established in 2018, eins is seeking an active role in shaping art discourse and promoting contemporary artists in Cyprus, its neighbours and beyond. As a commercial gallery, we care about the development of the artists we work with, providing space and flexibility for the facilitation of compelling proposals and projects. As a gallery based in Cyprus, we are diligently involved in initiating conversations with our audiences, encouraging the engagement of local artists, students and the public.
Eins gallery was founded by its director, Tasos Stylianou, and his brother, Constantinos Stylianou.