Ariana Papademetropoulos
Ariana Papademetropoulos’ imagery is dreamlike, surreal, seductive and prophetic in its ability to open beyond the conscious.
Image credit: Ariana Papademetropoulos, Phases of Venus, 2022, oil on canvas, 233 x 275 cm. Photo: Argenis Apolinario. Courtesy the artist and Vito Schnabel Gallery © Ariana Papademetropoulos
André Breton’s 1924 manifesto suggests that “the imaginary is what tends to become real”. This idea has been proven more than once, with our contemporary present giving substance to previously fanciful realities. My childhood television staples included Get Smart (1965–69), a program about (hapless) American secret agent Maxwell Smart, whose phone was embedded in gadgets – notably his shoe but also a tie and a watch. We have imagined self-driving cars, spaceships and portals to past, future and other worlds; what we are able to perceive is only a fraction of what is. Time and linearity are also arbitrary – past, present, and future are overlaid for many cultures.
So, when Ariana Papademetropoulos describes the inspiration for her Milan exhibition as having arrived through readings received via a psychic named Wendy, the concept cannot be so easily dismissed – even by an evidence-based mindset. Yet Papademetropoulos initially ignored Wendy’s predictions. She told VAULT, “I’ve been talking to Wendy for about five years. She would tell me about the paintings I was going to make and at first, I didn’t pay it much attention – but then I began to realise that she could visualise my realm more clearly than I could at times.”
“I think of making work the way David Lynch describes it. It’s like ideas are fish in the ocean, and sometimes you’ve got to ... Subscribe to read all articles in full
