Using a restrained palette of pencil and colored pencil on paper, Greek artist Christiana Soulou (born 1961) draws figures that embody a ceaseless formation and fragmentation of the self. Soulou’’s wide range of characters includes the mysterious figures of the Tarot, the fantastical beasts of Borges’’ Book of Imaginary Beings and a series of awkward ballet dancers. The richness of Soulou’’s imagery and storytelling is at the core of her exploration of identity. Part of the 2000 Words series, conceived and commissioned by Massimiliano Gioni, and published by the Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, 2000 Words: Christiana Soulou presents the entirety of the artist’’s works in the Dakis Joannou Collection and includes an essay by Claire Gilman examining the tension between the material and immaterial in Soulou’’s work.
