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Skoufa Gallery presents the exhibition Emerald Paintings, the first solo presentation of Stella Kapezanou at the gallery, on view from May 8 to 31, 2025. This is the most mature body of work the acclaimed artist has presented to date. Paintings in vivid hues reminiscent of precious emeralds emerge as deceptive portrayals of an idealized life—dazzling, yet at the same time “radioactively flat.”
“How is it possible, in a neo-conservative era, for such technicolor passions of sensuality and seduction to occur?” wonders the exhibition’s curator, Poka-Yio. He goes on to explain: “Kapezanou’s people are painted in vitro, they live in a void. Their figures are stains equal to and on par with the colors of the fabrics, covers, wallpaper, and carpets” that surround them. It is a staged world, one that appears meticulously unkempt. And yet, nothing in it is accidental. Her heroines exist in spaces that are both dreamlike and suffocating. Bodies, gazes, props, and patterns fuse into scenes charged with tension and underlying melancholy.
Kapezanou constructs images that teeter between artifice and observation, sensuality and detachment, crafting a form of art that embraces a “disrespectful flatness.” After all, she is an artist who knows surface firsthand. “She skates across the surface with the grace of a champion,” as Poka-Yio characteristically writes.
In Kapezanou’s practice, structure and surrender coexist in a constant dance. Intuition leads, but discipline gives shape. Her visual language is fluid and precise, visually intricate yet confrontational, reflecting the ongoing tension between tenderness and assertion, beauty and depth. Her painting is a projection of the unconscious, immersed in a glow that seduces and wounds. As Poka-Yio concludes: “To experience it, all it takes is to sink into her deep, hypnotic green.”
The exhibition is accompanied by a printed publication with a curatorial essay and photographic documentation of the works.
Curator: Poka-Yio
Exhibition Design: Panos Dragonas
Skoufa Gallery
4 Skoufa Street, 106 73 Athens, Greece
Duration: May 8–31, 2025
Opening: May 8, 6:00–10:00 p.m.
About the Artist:
Stella Kapezanou is a visual artist based in Athens. Her work explores themes of identity, gender, and cultural narrative through large-scale paintings and ceramic sculptures. She worked in fashion and media for 12 years. She studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts and Chelsea College of Arts in London, receiving dual scholarships. In 2024, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to participate in the thematic residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute (USA), and was commissioned to design the new visual identity for the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. She has received multiple awards for her practice. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions across Europe, the UK, and the United States.
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