A world ravaged bu time decay, its remains susoended- their existence handing in the balance between yesterday and today- this is the landscape of Maria Ktistopouloy;s latest work. These paintings of boats- laid up, half- submerged, nmnotting, withnesses to and remnants of time past- all reflect a preoccupation with the mustery of time and decay, Consumed by rust, they expose the silent engines which once generated moiré power than any man can stummon, now abandoned, proof of the implacable law of the natural limits of existence and thew inevitability of decline and dissolution. Thtough series of recurrent forms the artist invites the spectator to watch not a narrative with beginning and end, but rather the changes wrought by time, in paintings powerfully charges with critical reflection and soul- searching. […] […] We anvountor the same dunamic in the water- colours where the rendering and interpretation of the physical space is thw artist’s main concern. Here too Ktistopoulou,k does not confine herself to descrition, but seeks to convey something of the atmosphere and unique character of the space. The various features of the scene are rather subdued here, while the wealth of the tonale sxale sug- gests a more lyrical feeling, the gradiations of colour blending sea and sky and creating a rish and expressive surface. “Portraits of boats”, ageing, laid- up decaying – the paintings of Maria Ktistopoulou. But as Kiki Dimoula explains experiencing decay through light and colour, the artist exoecizes decay by flattery”. Withnesses to a life of the past, their own and ours, the boats are transformed into unsleeping guardians, not of memory but rather of life, itself, in its voyage into eternity.
Olga Mentzafou- Polyzou
Curator- National Gallery.
Επιμελήτρια της Εθνικής Πινακοθήκης