The latest Upgrade Yourself featured Evi Kalogiropoulou exploring her career so far working as a sculptor, filmmaker and visual artist exhibiting across institutions, museums and international art fairs.
Watch Evi’s online session below and explore further resources which offer an introduction to her work, with an informal chat about juggling between sculpture, moving image and film and how these elements compliment her process.
Hi Evi, please can you introduce yourself and give a brief description about your current role/career...
I am Evi, a visual artist living and working in Athens and London. I work mostly with moving image, and make experimental films. My projects explore ideas associated with inclusion/exclusion, cross-culture identity, female figures in Ancient Greek mythology and post-apocalyptic environments.
I studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and I have a Masters degree in Moving Image from the Royal College of Art, London and I am currently a resident artist at Somerset House Studios. My sculpture work is represented by Breeder Gallery, Athens, and I recently had a solo exhibition of my video and sculpture work at Kunstverein Dresden. My work is part of the Onassis Collection, among other collections around the world. In 2019, I was awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artworks Fellowship. I recently accomplished a short movie funded by Eleusis European Capital of Culture 2021 and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. In June 2020, I participated in the exhibition The Same River Twice: Contemporary Art in Athens with my film Neighbours, organised by The DESTE Foundation and the New Museum at the Benaki Museum in Athens. I have had various screenings in London, Germany, and Greece, at spaces such as the BFI in London, the Lenbahaus in Munich and the Chisenahale Gallery in London. In 2018, my film Neighbours was screened at the Whitechapel Gallery and later was shortlisted on the Tenderflix competition organized by the British Film Institute and Tenderpixel Gallery, and was screened at the BFI.
What is the WORST moment of your career so far, how did you show resilience and bounce back?
I moved to London and started my Masters during the Greek economic crisis, so it was already a difficult situation. The worst moment of my career was when I graduated from RCA. After graduating, I believed, as many artists do, that many opportunities would come up following my degree show and that everything would start from there. In my case, this didn’t happen. No opportunity came up from my degree show and for some months I didn’t have support for my projects. After many years of studies, I suddenly found myself in the free market. I bounced back when I realized that I had to continue my practice in both ways, as a sculptor and as a filmmaker. I tried to balance my work between sculpture, installation, moving image and filmmaking.
What was the best piece of advice you were ever given?
The best piece of advice I have ever given is that you have to persist. It’s very crucial to keep going in the field of art in the years following of the graduation. Many artists get disappointed in the first 2 years after the graduation year and they give up. Also, it’s important to have a second job to survive. Unfortunately we do not always survive only by making art.
As the world is systematically changing, what does a future Creative Career look like after C-19?
At this moment, when people are discouraged from going out and are asked to stay indoors, more institutions will be more willing to support video art and moving image work. Even now, during the COVID-19 quarantine, some institutions are offering a small budget for artists to create videos from home during these special circumstances, even if their practice isn’t primarily focussed within the medium of moving image. In this context, I have just exhibited online a new moving image work, Tiles, which was commissioned by Onassis STEGI and Onassis USA where artists across the globe prepared new works within 120 hours during the pandemic time-space, a series of original works created in the conditions of the “here and now” in order to surpass it and bring us together through the world of our digital platforms.
A rapper writes his new song, talking about his night out in the center of Athens. He sits in the kitchen of his apartment, where we see a mosaic floor and some colorful tiles on the wall. At night, a car wash transforms into a kickboxing studio, where the employees practice in pairs – yet all alone. The floor is mosaic and there are colorful tiles on the wall.
I created this moving image work inspired by the people that I encounter during the quarantine – my friend, and my trainer. The common axis is formed by the mosaic floor, the tiles, and also our personal relationship.
Have a good level of film and moving image skills
It is important to have the knowledge and the skills required for the creation of moving image and film production at a standard level. Acquiring professional level isn't perhaps necessary but a standard level allows you to develop your work autonomously. These skills include operating a camera and self-shooting, sound recording, editing and color correction.
Applications
Always keep a file with all the applications that you have written in word format, together with your bio, artist statement and cv. This way it will be much easier to fill out an application. Sometimes there are common themes that an application can be based on. Sometimes, you can adapt the subject and contents of previous applications in order to submit a new project. Bear in mind that, once an application has been approved, usually there is some flexibility to make changes to the final project. Keep a digital calendar with deadlines and applications.
Build a good working relationship with your collaborators
I have been working with the same people for a long period of time. For my sculpture practice I have been working with the same technicians for the last 3years. It is important to work with the same collaborators because they get know your practice better. For me it is important to have a level of trust with the technicians, so that I can work remotely, especially since they are based in Greece.
