The ever familiar image of the imposing cranes in the port of Thessaloniki is reimagined through the work of Alexandros Psychoulis, which will feature across this year’s edition. In the artist’s own words: “I grew up facing the port of Volos, gazing from my balcony at the huge cranes I would later come across at the Port of Thessaloniki. I grew up waiting for the moment when the cranes’ claws emerged from the ships’ holds, hauling up and revealing part of their innards, much like documentaries draw a fragment from life, suspending it briefly before the viewers’ eyes.”
Alexandros Psychoulis was born in Volos in 1966 and studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts. His early works were interactive installations, activated by the audience and exploring the subconscious, translating fears, desires, or memories into images or sounds. The exploration of the landscape of digital reality is still at the heart of his work, which spans site-specific installations, animation, and painting. In 1997, he was awarded the Benesse Prize for his work Black Box, with which he took part in the 47th Venice Biennale. It was one of the first interactive digital works worldwide to address questions of language and communication. He has held numerous solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad, hosted at prestigious and top-notch galleries and institutions. He is currently Professor of “Art and Technology” at the Department of Architecture at the University of Thessaly, and Director of the MA programme “Post-Industrial Design.” His works are held in the permanent collections of EMST (the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens), the National Gallery of Greece, Tate, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and others.
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