The 12 site-specific installations feature work by NYU alumna Lilia Ziamou. *Please note, the date for the public unveiling has changed from Sep 12 to Sep 23*
Public Unveiling: September 23rd, 6pm
Corner of LaGuardia and West 3rd Street
Reception: October 16th, 6:30-8:30pm
Silverstein Lounge, 1st Floor
NYU Silver Center for Arts and Science
100 Washington Square E.
New York University Kimmel Windows Gallery presents body politic /bädē päl-tik, featuring work by NYU alumna Lilia Ziamou (Tisch ITP, Class of 2013). The exhibition includes sculptural and two-dimensional works that offer unique interpretations of the human body, meant to deconstruct and subvert viewers’ perception of reality. The works will be exhibited in the NYU Kimmel Windows Gallery (located at the corner of West 3rd Street and LaGuardia Place in Greenwich Village) from September 23 through November 10. NYU Kimmel Windows are viewable 24/7 and are free and open to the public.
Curated by NYU’s Kimmel Windows Gallery Lead Curator, Pamela Jean Tinnen, Lilia Ziamou: body politic /bädē päl-tik encourages us to consider what it means to be human in a world where technology saturates everyday life and scrambles our perceptions of “reality.”Throughout the exhibition, we aim to examine the known and unknown ramifications of technology on both our physical bodies and our culture’s collective psyche.
“Here we evoke the concept of “the Body Politic” through the lens of 21st century connectivity. Throughout the exhibition’s thought-provoking display, we examine the known and unknown ramifications technology may have on our physical bodies, our collective psyche, and humanity as a whole. These 12 site-specific installations offer a visual interrogation of the complex struggles between the individual self and modern society as a whole.” said Tinnen.
The exhibition unfolds in two related but distinct sections. Works in the four-part installation along West 3rd Street are based on a 3D scan of actual human hip-bone anatomy. Through successive physical and digital processes, Ziamou transforms and recreates the bone’s anatomy.
In The Bone as Body, the dissected bone-form sculptures maintain an esoteric quality reminiscent of their prototype (in texture and composition). In the accompanying installations, the bone form undergoes a radical metamorphosis, from that of a pattern to an aggregated dress-sculpture. These sculptures resonate with hauntingly abject attributes that evoke human flesh and bone. They are presented in concert with fashion sketches that informed Ziamou’s elaborate artistic process. By retaining the bone’s observable essence, these installations invite viewers to rethink existing preconceptions of physical materiality and thus to explore alternative interpretations of the human form.
To create the digital compositions featured in eight windows along LaGuardia Place, Ziamou combines and manipulates hundreds of close-up photographs of her sculptural works. These compositions allow her to further explore ideas related to fragmentation, transformation, and distorted realities.
“By reimagining and reconstructing body fragments, I am constantly exploring and intrigued by the ways we can challenge existing constraints of form, materials, and processes” said Lilia Ziamou. “I am interested in the dialogue about how seeing differently unlocks new meanings.”
The exhibition will be on display from September 23 to November 10. Lilia Ziamou: body politic /bädē päl-tik/ is part of NYU’s Art in Public Places initiative, sponsored by the Office of the Provost.
About Lilia Ziamou
Lilia Ziamou lives and works in New York. Her solo exhibitions include The Consulate General of Greece in New York, New York (2017 and 2010); Gallery 7, Athens, Greece (2016); Elga Wimmer, New York (2013); Tenri Gallery, New York (2011); The John Jay College Art Gallery, New York (2009). In 2014, Lilia Ziamou was an artist in residence at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York. Her work has been supported by the Fulbright Foundation, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), and 3D Systems. She is a graduate of ITP / Tisch School of the Arts / NYU. For more information about Lilia Ziamou, visit www.lilia-artspace.com
About the Kimmel Windows
Established in 2003, Kimmel Windows are dedicated to providing visually dynamic and thought-provoking exhibitions organized by NYU graduate students, faculty, departments and programs representing a wide range of scholarly discourse at New York University. Kimmel Windows are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Pamela Jean Tinnen, Curator.
About NYU Art in Public Places
The Windows operate under the aegis of the Provost’s office, at the heart of NYU’s Art in Public Places initiative, which facilitates the display of art in outdoor spaces around campus.