07 October 2012 until 25 November 2012

Helen Apostolopoulos brings her unique sculptural forms, borne in part of her study of important archaeological collections and monuments, to the Byzantine Museum.

Her years in the Hellenic Archaeological Service brought her into contact with important examples and groups of muralled monuments, which she studied methodically and drew with artistic flair.

Her explorations of form make her sculptures small, self-standing studies on the history of art and of sculpture in particular. Her works conceal their influences, which stem from the historical and artistic memory of Classical antiquity, Byzantium and the Renaissance.

Memory and monumentality have shaped the sculptor’s oeuvre, and both concepts are key facets of her idiolect. Her works shed light on her fundamental quests, but also present her responses to their duality.

The forms which emerge from the unprocessed material are usually abstractive, with her carving producing the alternations of light and shade of which the final sculptural form is composed. Her forms vary in scale, and the visitor is invited to enter the sculpted space she creates and to interpret the works—and issues relating to memory, history and space—in his own way.

The second core of works in the exhibition is dedicated to the creative process. Drawing on paper always marks the first stage in the implementation of one of Helen Apostolopoulos works, and her sculptures take form for the first time in ink and charcoal, acquiring their active dynamic in the process. As well as complementing the sculptures, these drawings provide the visitor with a valuable insight into the artist’s aesthetic and expressive quests.