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| Alexandros Avranas Ever since I was a child I used to wonder, who is the one that has the power, the one dealing the blow or the one that hurts? (from a poster boarded on a wall) Power relations, imposition, suppression and outbursts constitute the structural elements and concepts of Alexander Avranas’ work. And he deals with them in different ways and by way of different means, while retaining one axis intact: from movies to videos, up to his purely artistic works, these relations and attitudes are demonstrated and decomposed on multiple levels. Avranas brings to the forefront the politics of what is visible and what is not. Power, imposition and suppression can be present everywhere, from the narrow family context to state authorities. They are all equally suffocating. They crush souls and bodies, expectations and beliefs in exactly the same way. And each outburst comes to act in each instance like a catalyst, often like a catharsis and usually without offering any solution. Basij: The work presented in this exhibition is entitled 'Βasij', a name referring to Iran’s volunteers’ militia. Similar forces are to be found in several countries and they assume a common role in each one of them, imposing order. Whether for good or bad, this word is associated with violence and forces of suppression of public protests. Yet, the images and associations conjured up by it, would not change. The illustrative aspects of the work extend its interpretation as well. A frieze from black cloth, the image of an identical controlling mass with all the paraphernalia of law enforcement office (clubs, gloves and no special uniform) demonstrates an aspect of modern civil violence. Despite its structure, the frieze is very different from the friezes of antiquity in Greece and Persia (Iran). The ironic stance towards the ‘lust for antiquity’ and the symbolisms of a glorious past is easy to discern, regardless of countries, nations and histories. In the case of Avranas’ work the black cloth turns into the cloth of another “Panathinaia” procession, a contemporary rather than festive one, but essentially an inglorious and repulsive one. Every country has got its own basij, every country has got those who act, those who react, ideas and bodies that clash. What seems to be true throughout history, is that there is always a force for the imposition of power and order; a force seeking to fight an enemy. It is not always absolutely clear who that enemy is. As long as one exists. Areti Leopoulou  Download CV |  Love is fear |
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