[August 29 2019]
“In the beginning, there was a floating rock evolving between worlds, with no fixed location named A-δῆλος -meaning the “non visible”. When Leto, one of Zeus’ mortal lovers, gave birth to Artemis and Apollo, this island became Delos “the visible”, preserving the young gods from the wrath of the goddess Hera. In Ancient Greece, this 3.5 sq. km islet was for centuries one of the most sacred places, as well as an extremely prosperous and cosmopolitan Hellenistic centre.
In the VIth century BC, tyrants from Athens decided to seize power on Delos and to give it back its symbolic and mythologic power. During the “Purification of Delos”, they thus excavated the numerous tombs of the local inhabitants, and transported them in a pit on the neighbouring island of Rineia.
From now on, it was forbidden to be born and to die, on Delos.
Invited to feature 29 of his works on the island by the NEON initiative (https://neon.org.gr/en) in collaboration with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades, Anthony Gormley abides by the rule: five of the installations were commissioned for the site, assembled outside the island and now eternally integrated amongst Delos’s archaeological sites.
His sculptures, silent sentinels evoking human bodies, in full or in facets, resonate with the numerous, intertwined identities of Delos and reveal its complex topography.
Far from being a sterile juxtaposition of contemporary works with antique ruins, the exhibition curated by Iwona Blazwick (Whitechapel Gallery) and Elina Kountouri (NEON) projects us into a subtle reflexion upon the future of our own civilization. Thus, as we leave the island by boat, under a scorching sun, we can’t help but wondering whether 2000 years from now, Gormley site-specific sculptures will remain standing, and what they will tell about us.“
Photo and Text Paul Mouginot
A trip to Antiparos, Greece
hypothetical islands
Paola Pivi
nos están matando (they’re killing us)
Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles
panic civilization
Doug Aitken
Ïto ora
A visit to the Carrara marble quarries with sculptor Dominique Stroodant
Hawkesworth Jamie
Tomoo Gokita “PEEKABOO” exhibition opening and after party at Tokyo Opera City...
Slutever
Sex Fashion
Balenciaga
Nigora in Los Angeles
See Yasmine Eslami’s new S/S 2018 swimwear campaign
BIRKENSTOCK BOX x Rick Owens Launch Party at Rick Owens, Los Angeles
Sofie in the Dutch fields
JW Anderson, S/S 2025, MFW
Emporio Armani, S/S 2025, MFW
DSQUARED2 S/S 2024 Film for PURPLE #41
William Eggleston
Martine Rose, S/S 2025, MFW
“Andy Warhol: Velvet Rage & Beauty” Exhibition at Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, on...
“Singularities” Exhibition of Philip Guston at Hauser & Wirth Zurich, on view...
“Wish You Were Gay” exhibition by Anne Imhof opens today at Kunsthaus...
Christophe Brunnquell and Estelle Hanania announce new book “La Guerre du feu”...
© Purple Institute