Olga Migliaressi-Phoca

Athens, Greece

December 10, 2019 - January 15, 2020

Artist Statement

Visual artist Olga Migliaressi-Phoca (b. 1981 Athens – Greece) creates narratives that reflect popular culture of today and echo current viewpoints and attitudes of western society with a pinch of irony. Using photography & found images, her visuals form a cultural study referencing a specific place and time, exploring issues of gender, identity and social typology. Capturing the surface of an appearance, her works challenge the viewer to look through social stereotypes, bringing them closer to the true nature of the subject. Through the use of photography, found images and the appropriation of popular images, she creates a new platform for the work to exist in, a new context for these ideas to inhabit. Throughout her pieces prevails a sense of sarcasm, irony and a tackle towards social stereotypes in a humorous approach.

In her text based works, the artist turns iconic logos into a thought provoking play of words. Recognizable, familiar images that have become a mundane part of the everyday vocabulary become transformed into something new. With a Pop aesthetic and a heavy dose of causticness, the artist aims to critique various perceptions of Western societies and invites the viewer to observe their feelings towards several social taboos. The meaning of each piece is open to interpretation for the viewer to contemplate and decide upon.

Bio

Olga Migliaressi-Phoca (b. 1981) lives and works in Athens. She was awarded her MFA in Photography & Related Media at Parsons, The New School for Design in New York in 2009. Prior to that she completed her Foundation Studies in Art & Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and obtained her BFA in Fashion Photography at the London College of Fashion. She has exhibited her work in solo as well as group shows in art spaces and museums in Greece and abroad.  

Selected solo exhibitions include: Perpetual Endangered Tempo, P.E.T. Projects, Athens | GOODFEAR, in collaboration with Despoina Damaskou, SPAGHETTO SOLARIUM, hosted by The Breeder, Athens | TEST THE WATERS, In collaboration with Despoina Damaskou, Spaghetto Test, SPAGHETTO SOLARIUM, Venice, Italy | Sin City, Dio Horia Contemporary Art Platform, Mykonos | Loves Me Loves Me Not, You Cannot Hide For More Than Seven Years Project by Despoina Damaskou Architecture Studio, Athens | Coco Nuts, Dio Horia Contemporary Art Platform, Mykonos.

Selected group shows include: Sisterhood, curated by Angelo Plessas, Haus N Athen, Athens | Who’s The Fairest Of Them All?, curated by Despoina Damaskou and Angelo Plessas, SPAGHETTO, Athens with P.E.T. Projects, Athens for Contemporary Istanbul | A Nice Pair, Spaghetto Test, Twenty One YES Hotels, Athens | Condo Unit, SPAGHETTO, Athens, A Collaborative Exhibition by 10 international galleries, organized by The Breeder, Athens | Highlight: Gramercy, curated by Paul Efstathiou and Eleanor Flatow, National Arts Club, New York | Galerie Utopia / Nowhereland Part II, curated by Tjorg Douglas Beer, Hamburg, Germany | Dancing Goddesses, curated by Marina Vranopoulos, Dio Horia, Mykonos | Cultural Memories, curated by Petros Kosmas,  The Archaeological Museum of Milos, Greece | It Looks Like Up To Me, Eleni Koroneou Gallery, Athens | The Diary of a Seamstress, curated by Efi Falida, Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens | The Equilibrists, curated by Gary Carrion-Murayari & Helga Christoffersen with Massimiliano Gioni, a project organized by the New Museum, New York and the DESTE Foundation, Athens in collaboration with the Benaki Museum, Athens. In 2019-2020 she was an artist-in-residence at the Fountainhead Residency Program in Miami, Florida. In 2011 she was one of the winners of the Polo Jeans Co. Ralph Lauren Art Stars Project Award, which is geared towards emerging young artists and designers in Europe.

Artist Links

http://www.diohoria.com/olga-migliaressiphoca
https://www.highlightcurated.com/events-gramercy
http://firesnowflakes.tumblr.com