OFLUXO

This exhibition presents a new body of work by artist Athena Papadopoulos. Working across sculpture, painting, text and sound, Papadopoulos’ practice defies traditional representations of the body, creating excessive, decaying and abject hybrid forms hovering between the worlds of the imagined and the real. Through a process of assemblage, her work is formed of found objects amassed and collaged together. Traditional binary perceptions of gender and sexuality are uprooted and unfixed.

Using her ever-expanding vocabulary of materials and ancient narratives, which she combines with unlikely elements, this new series of works includes sound, sculpture and painting, and explores human dichotomies questioning the complicated duality of reason and emotion. The exhibition is inspired by her recently published book Cain and Abel Can’t and Able, which gives the exhibition its title. Drawing from the biblical story of Cain and Able, Papadopoulos reflects on her own personal experiences of sibling rivalry and competition within romantic relationships but also, crucially, the struggle between good and evil.

Cain and Abel Can’t and Able is centred around a dialogue written by Papadopoulos in which an imagined narrative between two seemingly distinct voices is played out. Exploring themes such as jealousy, lust and kindness, Papadopoulos transforms this dialogue into wall-based sculptural paintings, an experimental sound work which can be heard throughout the gallery space and pages of the text that reappear hidden, splayed and nesting within the installation.