Jannis Kounellis about Maria Rigoutsou

The last works I saw at the Akademy were sea shores and seascapes, entirely different from the works exhibited at the Bunker in Cologne, which, resting weightily on the floor, inside windowless cement rooms, „whitewashed“ and decisivety designed within the space, the air having been removed and without a trace of atmosphere, told a dramatic story.
In contrast, the landscapes experienced and painted in the Mediterranean have once more discovered, and this is important, both morning and afternoon, the limpidity oft he sea and a hidden passion fort he life within a warm, maternal embrace.
What I want to say ist hat the new reality depicted by Maria is not an escape towards the idyllic, but a commitment, which if adhered to with determination, can flourish into a bold modernity.
Jannis Kounellis
Ghent, 16 April 2002

The sea, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 100x100cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

 

The staircaise, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircaise, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircaise, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Untitled, Oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm

Untitled, Oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm

Untitled, Oil on canvas 100 x 100 cm

The staircase, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircase, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircase, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircase II, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircase II, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The staircase II, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 100 x 140 cm

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 100 x 140 cm

Untitled, Oil on canvas, 100 x 140 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas 120 x 120 cm

he sea, Oil on canvas 120 x 120 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas 120 x 120 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

The sea, Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

Starcaise, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Starcaise, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Starcaise, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Silence, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm

Silence, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60cm

Silence, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60cm

Island, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Island, Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Island, Oil on canvas, 100 x100 cm

La Palma, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm

La Palma, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60cm

La Palma, Oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm

Landscape, Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

Landscape, Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm

Landscape, Oil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm