Opening Art Initiative featuring Greece in USA
https://pappaspost.com interview by Dimitris Polymenopoulos
Dr. Sozita Goudouna is a prominent figure in promoting Greek contemporary art in the United States. As the founder of the non-profit organization “Greece in USA,” https://greeceinusa.com launched under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, she has played a pivotal role in bridging the gap between Greek artists and the American art scene. Her work focuses on showcasing contemporary Greek art, culture, and heritage to a wider audience, fostering cross-cultural dialogue, and understanding. Through various exhibitions, events, and collaborations, Goudouna has successfully introduced American audiences to both established and emerging Greek artists, helping to elevate their profiles internationally. Her efforts not only support artists but also contribute to the cultural exchange between Greece and the U.S., highlighting the richness and diversity of Greek contemporary art. Goudouna’s impact is significant as she has created platforms for artists to gain visibility and recognition, while also educating the public about the importance of Greek contributions to the global art landscape. Her initiatives have helped cultivate a community of art enthusiasts, collectors, and professionals who appreciate and support Greek contemporary art. Dr. Sozita Goudouna’s approach to contemporary Greek art is multifaceted and plays a crucial role in its extroversion in the U.S.
A short intro about “Greece in USA”
Following her stint as Andrew W. Mellon curator for the Performa 15 Biennial, and the directorship of Raymond Pettibon’s studio in collaboration with David Zwirner gallery (NY), Regen Projects (LA) and Sadie Coles (LDN) curator Dr. Sozita Goudouna launched the non-profit Greece in USA to help facilitate strong cultural exchanges between Greek and Cypriot artists and her American colleagues. Greece in USA was founded March 25th 2020, nevertheless, there is a strong history behind this initiative. Greece in USA’s programming draws from her experience as an Andrew W. Mellon curator of the New York Performa Biennial. As a Performa curator, she realized that Greek and Cypriot artists, like Maria Hassabi, were able to have a strong cultural exchange with American colleagues and fellow curators seemed interested in learning more about the contemporary Greek scene. An organization like Greece in USA can be a catalyst for promoting the work of contemporary Greek artists abroad.
What sparked your love for art and cultural exchange? Can you share a favorite moment or experience from your work that left a lasting impression on you as you began your career?
I’m an admirer of the so-called “Gesamtkunstwerk” (total work of art) and despite the overuse of the term what still intrigues and inspires me in the reception of art are the interfaces between site specificity, medium specificity, location, social, political, and aesthetic context. Sites of performance, of exhibition or display are revealed to be culturally specific situations that generate particular contexts, ethics and narratives, regarding art, art history and society. Following a 17-year “stopover” in London to study and work for the academy and the local art scene, I felt the need to present the work of Greek artists abroad. The collective project I curated in 2009 at the London Festival of Europe, which featured international and Greek artists and architects at the Shunt Vaults (a labyrinth of railway arches under London Bridge Station) was a milestone favorite moment! I am pleased that versions of that project also toured in Athens at the Benaki Museum and the Christian & Byzantine Art Museum. These versions were with the participation of established international artists such as Mat Collishaw and most of the London participants, including Kostas Alivizatos, Melia Kreiling, Nefeli Skarmea, Xristina Penna, Yorgis Noukakis, The Erasers, Klio Boboti, Margarita Bofiliou, Kostis Velonis, Alexandros Mistriotis, and Dimitra Stamatiou are very active in the international art scene.
As a member of the Ecological Association of Hydra since 1988, I also enjoyed the arts and environmental project “Eleventh Plateau” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVONOzQtxlk I curated on the island in 2011 and a research project I initiated and realized with the support of the Onassis Foundation at Aixoni Sculpted landscape in Glyfada, built in 1991 by Nella Golanda. Aixoni has been culturally inert, and my project attempted to highlight the impact and influential role that it could play for the Greek cultural industry.
The first edition of this program consisted of a performance choreographed by Maria Hassabi and a group exhibition at Aixoni Sculpted Theatre and Exhibition Space designed by Nella Golanda at Aixoni in Glyfada. The second edition of the project will be presented late 2019 at ‘T’ Space Rhineberg New York designed by Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with Dimitra & Eirini Tsachrelia and Nicholas Karytinos (Tacet Creations). With the participation of artists Maria Hassabi, Kelly Nipper, Michael Portnoy, Duke Riley, Alexandros Georgiou, Delia Gonzalez, Christian Wassmann, Eleni Kamma, Kostis Velonis, Raymond Pettibon, Erlea Maneros Zabala, Ilan Manouach, Vassilis Salpistis and Marie Voignier, Dionysis Kavalieratos, Maria Georgoula, Nikos Charalambidis, Olga Venetsianou, Angela Svoronou, Sotiris Karamanis and Mark Aerial Waller the project presents methods of translating three-dimensional work into a two-dimensional format and the ways an elastic movement and sound score can define the future of architecture, engineering and our build environment.
Another project that left a lasting impression was a production I curated at the New Museum on Raymond Pettibon’s scripts. Pettibon’s work is widely admired among the contemporary art audience and has avid devotees in the international field of drawing connoisseurs, nevertheless, fewer people are aware of his influential writings, scripts, and videos. Being affiliated with Performa Biennial in New York, as the inaugural Andrew W. Mellon curator, my main concern was also to highlight the textual and performative aspect of Pettibon’s oeuvre by initiating and producing a project at New Museum for Performa Biennial in collaboration with Massimiliano Gioni and RoseLee Goldberg and with the participation of musicians and artists including Kim Gordon, Oliver Augst, Frances Stark, Young Kim, Marcel Dzama, Juli Susin, Veronique Bourgoin among many other artists.
Another notable project explored the concepts of breath and aesthetics, significantly influencing public perception of these ideas. One of the key exhibitions I curated is “The Right to Breathe,” a project initiated by GREECE IN USA. This exhibition was a two-part hybrid event featuring both virtual and in-person elements and involved over 100 artists. It ran until October 7, 2021, at Undercurrent in Brooklyn. “The Right to Breathe” exhibition used the theme of breath to address social and political issues, including the experiences of political pressure, social injustice, and economic austerity. The exhibition’s focus on “shortness of breath” served as a metaphor for these societal challenges and was intended to highlight the intersection of poetics, live art, and embodied politics. It was also designed to provide insight into the ongoing revaluation of criminal justice reform
Can you describe “Greece in USA” cultural venue Opening Gallery at Walker st? How is it organized and why is it different from other galleries in TriBeCa? Has Greece in USA built strong partnerships with American institutions?
Having emerged from the non-profit “Greece in USA,” the Opening Gallery conceives of itself as a project that traces, examines and researches the current conditions and structures of contemporary visual and live arts without being bound to the art market. In New York and especially in TriBeCa the gap between the mega-galleries, the smaller galleries, cultural non-profits and the rest of the ecosystem is considerable. In this context I decided to establish The Opening in June 2022, as an opening to a new open way of participating in the arts in the center of Manhattan. In a market that is exacerbated by macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty we are trying to find different models to engage with the arts and to actively support charitable work. By representing projects rather than artists the Opening Gallery is unsusceptible to artists leaving their grassroots gallery for a bigger gallery.
The Opening Gallery, at 42 Walker in Tribeca, New York, is a nonprofit cultural venue and initiative showcasing global and local artists, practice-based research, as well as performance, live events, and educational programs. Exhibited artists belong to US and international museum permanent collections. Exhibitions include visual and performing arts and music events, with monthly public programs spanning a wide range of topics. The Opening Gallery has presented international and US based artists including Andres Serrano, Christopher Knowles, Sylvia Netzer, Sagarika Sundaram, Michele Zalopany, Kenneth Goldsmith, John Zorn, The Shoplifter, Luciano Chessa, Daniel Firman, Hans Weigand, Raúl Cordero, Jessica Mitrani, United Nations artist-observer Yann Toma, Warren Neidich, Coleman Collins, Constance DeJong, Charles Gaines, Jimmie Durham, Leslie Hewitt, Jimmy Raskin, Agnieszka Kurant, Olu Oguibe, Martha Rosler, Allen Ruppersberg, Chrysanne Stathacos, Leah Singer, Ronan Day-Lewis, Orit Ben Shitrit, ORLAN, and Bill Hayward.
During spring 2024 the gallery program presented a selection of Watermill Center former artists-in-residence including Eileen O’ Kane Kornreich, Christopher Knowles with Sylvia Netzer, D. Graham Burnett and “The Order of the Third Bird,” and Brian Block. The Gallery has partnered with prominent US institutions like Columbia University, Maison Française NYU, Fulbright, Watermill Center among others and has hosted the New York Arab Festival and events organized by MoMA curators and collaborates with Sorbonne Art Gallery in Paris.
Your organization often partners with Publishing houses like Eris Press, and other institutions, embassies, and universities?
The Opening partnered with the London-based publisher Eris to present exhibitions related to publications by Kenneth Goldsmith, Andres Serrano, ORLAN, Lucas Samaras, and Maurice Saatchi among other acclaimed contributors and artists. Our publishing art program has hosted readings of Edward Said’s poems by Simon Critchley, Stathis Gourgouris, and Udi Aloni, as well as readings of Gabriele Tinti by Vincent Piazza. We will also present the Royal Book Lodge and an exhibition on their recent Hatje Cantz publication. ROYAL BOOK LODGE emerged in the late 1980s from a collaboration between artists Juli Susin and Véronique Bourgoin. Affiliates include Raisa Aid, Kai Althoff, Anne Lefebvre, Linda Bilda, André Butzer, matali crasset, Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Beate Günther, Tobias Hauser, Andy Hope 1930, Dorota Jurczak, Jochen Lempert, Roberto Ohrt, Jonathan Meese, Birgit Megerle, Raymond Pettibon, Jason Rhoades, Julia Rublow, Lucia Sotnikova, and Gianfranco Sanguinetti, among others. The Gallery has also hosted the New York Arab Festival and events organized by MoMA curators, while we collaborate with Sorbonne Art Gallery in Paris and the Maison Française in New York for the exhibition of Yann Toma (permanent artist observer of the United Nations) and ORLAN this fall. The nonprofit cultural venue and initiative supports an heteroclite art ecosystem that attempts to go beyond prevalent gallery models in Tribeca. Proceeds support neurodiversity, charitable causes, and the non-profit Luv Michael, which is committed to enriching the lives of autistic adults.
What’s your vision for the future of Greek cultural outreach, and what are Greece in USA’s goals for growing its impact worldwide?
My vision is to curate exhibitions that feature a diverse range of Greek contemporary artists. By showcasing their work in prominent galleries and art institutions in the U.S., my aim is to create opportunities for artists to reach new audiences and gain recognition. Through my non-profit organization “Greece in USA,” I develop cultural programs that include artist talks, panel discussions, and workshops. These events not only highlight the artists’ practices but also engage the public in conversations about contemporary Greek art, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation.
I actively seek partnerships with American museums, galleries, and cultural organizations and institutions. By collaborating with these entities, I help integrate Greek contemporary art into the broader American art narrative, thereby enhancing its visibility. My practice attempts to emphasize the unique aspects of Greek culture and its contemporary expression. By framing Greek art within the context of its rich history and traditions, I aim to position it as an important part of the global art discourses and conversation.
Sozita Goudouna recently joined the Board of Directors (depicted here) of the Onassis Scholars Association
My non-profit facilitates connections between Greek artists and American curators, collectors, and critics. By building these networks, I help artists gain access to resources, funding, and exhibition opportunities in the U.S. Understanding the shifting landscape of global contemporary art. I am trying to reach a wider international audience, including younger generations who engage with art through digital means. By highlighting emerging Greek artists, I contribute to the discovery of new talent and fresh perspectives. This focus on the upcoming generation of artists helps to ensure that contemporary Greek art remains dynamic and relevant in the U.S. art scene. I effectively promote the extroversion of contemporary Greek art in the United States, fostering a greater appreciation and understanding of its contributions to the global art landscape.
