Konstantinos Giotis, Untitled, 2021, oil on linen, 190 x 230cm.

From 26th September until 16th October 2022, Ainalaiyn Space is excited to be hosting its debut residency in London, UK, thanks to the continued support of Exposed Arts Projects and the generous support of Bella Kesoyan.

We are excited to be hosting Konstantinos Giotis. Giotis (b.1988) lives and works in Athens. He is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (Master of Fine Arts Painting, 2015) and of the Department of Fine Arts and Art Sciences, University of Ioannina (BA Fine Art, 2013), while in the period 2010-2011 he studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Compultense University of Madrid, as part of the Erasmus student exchange programme.

In his practice, desires, fantasies or autobiographical deviations function as points of departure from which to explore ideological constructions, the limits of representation and painting tropes as building blocks for the construction of a contemporary imaginary. He has presented his work in a number of exhibitions, including: Cra(u)sh. Or how you made me kiss the pavement, Grace (Athens); But are we the only dreamed ones?, Daily Lazy Projects (Athens); Black Paintings, Charlie Smith (London); Nothing, TinT Gallery (Thessaloniki) andWhatWeWant, Action Field Kodra, (Thessaloniki). Furthermore, his work is exhibited at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki).

In an introduction to his work and practice, Giotis explains: “My work revolves around painting with an interest in the potential it has as a medium to encapsulate time and act as a speculative space to explore history, personal and collective narratives, materiality and representation. In my work there is a plethora of phenomenologically ambiguous references and symbols that are repeated in different manifestations. These elements derive from unlikely encounters, research and memory. Often large scale and expansive or small and personal, the paintings become vessels of fantasies, desires or autobiographical deviations. In my latest work togetherness and productivity are central ideas, while reflecting on ambiguity and romantic relationships. The paintings suggest fluid atemporal scenarios, questioning the agency of painting in an expanded field of cultural production. Motifs and tropes such as smoking, animals (e.g. Lloyds Bank logo) and elements relating to typography and popular culture (Club-Mate logo, lettering, etc.) evolve in different configurations. Often dreamlike scenes with otherworldly figures become the stage to implement these representational mechanisms which root the works in a dialectical process of power structures. For example, recently the caffeinated carbonated mate-extract beverage Club-Mate has infused a few of the pieces, where the energy boost promise clashes with the overall mood of the paintings. My interest lies in its semiotic undertones, as well as its cultural references, as over the years has become associated with subcultures such as the club scene and hacking communities. This suggestive representation becomes a device that disrupts the painted scene which transforms from a mysterious melancholic spectacle to a speculation on notions of energy, subversion and obscurity. I am interested in a methodology. I approach the process as an open-ended system, affected by moods and the innate limitations of the materials. While working on the surface of paintings with myriad layers, transparencies and different tropes through time, a process of concealment and disclosure takes place, creating networks and affective connections.”

Follow the progress of the residency via our website and social media.