Lumen de Lumine / Light from Light | July 26 - September 28, 2025

apapatza
Sep 6
4 min read

Updated: Oct 7

Antonia Papatzanaki, Structural 65, 2022 | Stainless steel, Plexiglas, LED lights

PRESS RELEASE

The 31st PLOES Visual Arts Exhibition at the P. & M. Kydoniéos Foundation, Andros

As every summer, the visual arts event PLOES is once again presented at the P. & M. Kydoniéos Foundation in Andros. Now in its 31st year, the exhibition has consistently earned recognition and wide acclaim from both the public and experts, thanks to its dedication, quality, and continuous effort. The P. & M. Kydoniéos Foundation warmly thanks them for their encouragement and support, as well as for their active participation and contribution to this cultural initiative, which enriches contemporary life and highlights the island.

The opening of this year’s exhibition, featuring 31 artists presenting works in painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, photography, and installations, will take place on Saturday, July 26 at 8:00 p.m. PLOES will run until Sunday, September 28, 2025.

This year’s exhibition is titled Lumen de Lumine / Light from Light. The exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are curated by Art Historian and Cultural Theorist (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) Athina Schina, who conceived and has guided PLOES throughout its history, with the Foundation’s enthusiastic support. She is responsible for proposing the title each year and for developing the conceptual framework of the exhibition, selecting works and artists whose practice engages with aspects of the chosen theme, as reflected in the works on display.

The group exhibitions of PLOES always begin with a significant social issue—one that deeply affects daily life and concerns a large part of the contemporary world – sometimes explored through a series of questions or dilemmas, at other times as moral and practical challenges. This year’s focus is Artificial Intelligence (AI). What are its possibilities and limits in relation to human technological use, both individually and collectively? How is it being confronted by the so-called “posthuman,” as often described by contemporary writers, in the newly emerging social role shaped by AI’s evolution? In what areas does Artificial Intelligence provide facilitation, being regarded today as a kind of “light of knowledge” we once lacked? And to what extent—without demonizing it—does AI, through its algorithmic synthesis, influence or transform art, and indeed, our lives?

As with previous PLOES exhibitions, the group shows also draw connections to our cultural past, collective memory, and works of art and thought, and especially to the humanistic values that have developed over time and continue to endure in updated forms. In relation to this year’s theme, AI itself serves as the starting point, widely seen as offering the knowledge and insight we once lacked. Without underestimating its potential, we are invited to reflect on how, through our humanistic heritage, we have perceived, experienced, and expressed the light of knowledge and awareness, both natural and spiritual, as revealed particularly through artistic and intellectual creation.

How has the past and our cultural tradition—when regarded as living and relevant—illuminated, defined, or emphasized the meaning of knowledge? Especially when this multifaceted meaning, which relates to consciousness, both affirms and at the same time far transcends our five senses. In what ways, and with what qualities, has this interplay of light—both natural and spiritual—been explored through analytical psychology, bioethics, philosophy, and above all, art? And how has the central presence of artworks in our lives, through their diverse interpretations across the ages, deepened this exploration?

The concept of light, particularly in its analytical and symbolic dimensions, was profoundly explored by the eminent psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875–1961), whose 150th birthday is being celebrated across Europe this year. PLOES is honored to dedicate this year’s exhibition to his significant contribution. Jung, through the depth psychology he developed, revealed the workings of archetypes, the timeless dimension of memory, and the collective unconscious. He also offered remarkable interpretations of our myths, while expanding the interpretive field of both historical and contemporary art through the “bridges” he created between art and everyday life.

In the conceptual framework of the exhibition, in order to illuminate both the polysemy and the spiritual dimension of light, the Curator makes a diachronic retrospective, in which each reference gradually complements the other. It begins with Homer’s Odyssey, focusing on Eurycleia’s recognition of Odysseus, then moves to Oedipus’ self-inflicted blindness and his proverbial plea for “more light” (of awareness). Next comes Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which reveals the archetypal significance of light.

From the Byzantine tradition, significant references include Moses and the Burning Bush, “which burned but was not consumed,” the Ascension of the Prophet Elijah, the Transfiguration, and the first Resurrection as depicted in fresco ensembles (illustrating “He is not here”), as well as the “Tongues of Fire” of Pentecost and the medieval depiction of Alexander the Great’s ascension. The references extend into modern times, highlighting the light of self-knowledge in Dionysios Solomos’ Porphyra and in George Seferis’ statement: “At heart, everything is a matter of light.”

Through the inventiveness of their artistic idioms, thematic choices, and references—sometimes expressed through variations in line, color, type of illumination, or materiality—each participating artist engages in a distinct dialogue with the exhibition, collectively embodying Lumen de Lumine / Light from Light. The works stimulate the viewer’s psyche, reflection, and imagination. Beyond offering aesthetic pleasure, the exhibition aims to provoke thought, broadening associations, connections, and perceptive capacity. Each interpretive engagement allows viewers to deepen their awareness of their own individuality and, more broadly, to reflect on the demands and parameters of our times.

The participating artists, listed alphabetically, are:

Io Aggeli, Sotiria Alevizou, Kalliopi Asargiotaki, Andreas Ventouris, Marilitsa Vlachaki, Voula Gounela, Kostas Dikefalos, Stefanos Zannis, Takis Zerdevas, Marigo Kassi, Dimitris Kokoris, Spyros Kotzampasis, Dimitra Maltampe, Alexandra Marati, Kallirrohi Marouda, Eleanna Martinou, Dimitris Merantzas, Katerina Mertzani, Katerina Bouratzi, Antonia Papatzanaki, Natassa Poulantza, Panagiotis Siangris, Evanthia (Efi) Soutoglou, Varvara Spyrouli, Giannis Stefanakis, Vassilis Tangalos, Marianna Trontsiou, Maria Tsesmeli, Popi Tsoukatou, Alexis Fountzoulas, Efi Fouriki.

Exhibition duration: Saturday, July 26 – Sunday, September 28, 2025

Opening hours: 10:30 – 14:30 & 18:30 – 21:30 daily (closed on Tuesdays)