Exhibition

Despina Stokou. White Lies

11 Oct 2018 – 11 Nov 2018

Regular hours

Thursday
11:00 – 18:00
Friday
11:00 – 18:00
Saturday
11:00 – 18:00
Tuesday
11:00 – 18:00
Wednesday
11:00 – 18:00

Save Event: Despina Stokou. White Lies

I've seen this

People who have saved this event:

close

Derek Eller Gallery is pleased to present White Lies, an exhibition of new paintings by Despina Stokou.

About

The immediacy of information in the digital era is central to Stokou's work. With dense layers of text and visceral marks, she accurately captures the cacophony of our current political and social climate. In these paintings and throughout her practice, language is sourced from various public (primarily online) platforms. Excerpts from Twitter posts, interviews, and political commentary are quoted and presented in dizzying chromatic gestures, varying in degrees of legibility and coherence. With this new body of paintings, Stokou also employs a blocking technique, wherein broad white strokes further erase or silence the points of view represented within.

Central to the exhibition is #AmericaIn3Words, a large painting stretched seamlessly over three panels. Stokou describes the process of making this painting as almost trancelike, stating "This was not a planned work, I blinked and it was in the studio." A hashtag that shares the same name asked participants to describe the United States with three words. This hashtag began trending around July 4, 2018 after news of the family separation policy at the southern border began to permeate the public conscience. The exercise elicited a variety of responses on Twitter which Stokou has collected on these canvases. "America Still Racist," "Children in Cages," "Can't Afford Gas" and "Guns over Government" are each individual responses which born of far flung ethos, collectively capture the political rage of this specific moment in history.

Here and throughout her work, Stokou does not shy away from challenging subjects, but chooses instead to confront them with an energetic physicality. White supremacy, systemic sexism, cultural violence and the complacency of art world participants are also addressed in the work of this exhibition. Presenting these topics as boldly painted canvases rife with text which struggles to be intelligible, Stokou highlights the notion that society's online debates may be loud and brash, while the voices of the disenfranchised remain unheard, effectively hidden in plain sight.

What to expect? Toggle

Exhibiting artistsToggle

Despina Stokou

Comments

Have you been to this event? Share your insights and give it a review below.