Born in Ierapetra (Crete) in 1959, she was an Athens School of Fine Arts student under Yorghos Mavroidis and Elias Dekoulakos (1979-1983) thanks to a Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) grant. She pursued her studies in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (1985-1986) on a French State scholarship (CROUS), under Vladimir Veličković. She is the illustrator of books such as “Sti Roi tou Potamou” by Stelios Skopelitis (in the flow of the river, 1995), “Asemnes Istories” (indecent stories, collective work, 1997) and “To Tsimpima tis Sfikas” by Maro Loizou (the sting of the wasp, 2007). Works by her can be found in important private collections and art foundations in Greece and abroad. She lives and works in Athens.
Kalliopi Asargiotaki
Works
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Crystal Gazer •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
2017
Desert Rose •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
2010
Transcription •
Thanassis Frissiras Gallery•
Athens•
2007
It Was Summer of ’92… •
Thanassis Frissiras Gallery•
Athens•
2002
Enkoilon •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1999
Erotopia •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1996
Everyone’s Garden •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1995
Portraits •
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1995
Nude •
Art Space 24•
Athens•
1993
Face – Mask •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1993
Portraits •
Municipal Art Gallery•
Kalamata•
1989
Portraits •
Ora Art and Cultural Centre•
Athens•
2022
Crystal Gazer •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
2017
Desert Rose •
Skoufa Gallery•
Athens•
2010
Transcription •
Thanassis Frissiras Gallery•
Athens•
2007
It Was Summer of ’92… •
Thanassis Frissiras Gallery•
Athens•
2002
Enkoilon •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1999
Erotopia •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1996
Everyone’s Garden •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1995
Portraits •
Terracotta Art Gallery (TinT Gallery)•
Thessaloniki•
1995
Nude •
Art Space 24•
Athens•
1993
Face – Mask •
Galerie 3•
Athens•
1993
Portraits •
Municipal Art Gallery•
Kalamata•
1989
Portraits •
Ora Art and Cultural Centre•
Athens•
Press
Embracing Existence
The Painting of Kalliopi Asargiotaki
Up until a few years ago, I considered Kalliopi Asargiotaki a painter of the senses and of emotional tension. She loved lightweight materials, her lines expressionistically fluid, her colours thin, discreet. Four years ago, however, I was pleasantly surprised to see another side of her. I saw her forms evolving, as well as her narrative shifting, from the erotic union to a single person, a supra-gender Vitruvian figure, glowing as if it had been reborn.
The expressionism appeared to retreat, here and there, giving way to a meticulous representation. But the painted figure of Asargiotaki is not an imitation of reality; it is a radiant being, coming towards the light and giving out light; it is a picture of rebirth. And an existential quest, at the same time, illuminated intensity, and excavation.
In the drawings shown here, we have both languages, both approaches: the expressionism of senses and embraces, a dense erotography, and the austere, taut depiction of a lone human figure. The painter’s fine, persistent lines stand out everywhere: the ink organised into a narrative with a painstaking pixel graph, dot by dot, line by line, with self-effacing toil, with masterful detail that retreats and fades, to bring out the impression and the other-worldly aura of the human face.
This is pure painting, narrative and metaphysical all at once, a unique fusion that is hard to describe in words.
Nikos G. Xydakis