Caterina Marouda
“PRIMAVERA”
Solo Exhibition
October 20- November 20, 2020
Press Release
MaLou Art Consulting is pleased to announce Primavera, an exhibition featuring 16 works by artist Caterina Marouda, October 20 –November 20, 2020.
Caterina Marouda was born in Athens where she lives and works. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence to the teacher Fernando Farulli.
‘’The main ability presented in Caterina Marouda’s works is that they have an authority of objective and unhindered performance, whose source may be the renaissance murals in Italy, where she studied. We will initially observe that her images have the following quality of those murals: that they retain the force of the color that does not burst unto diffusion of the emotional frenzy, but on the contrary it remains entrenched in the independent units, each time of a special authority in the geographical area which they define’’.
Emmanuel Mauromatis, Professor of Art History, Fine Art School of Thessaloniki.
Caterina Marouda has exposed her work in 17 personal exhibitions (Athens, Cologne, Thessaloniki, Bern) and she has also exposed her work in numerous group exhibitions (Greece, Canada, Italy, Spain, Chicago, Brussels, Russia and Paris – Salon des Artistes Independents and Salon des Artistes Français, Grand Palais).
Caterina Marouda’s works may be found in the collections of the Vorres Museum, the National Gallery, the Ministry of Culture, the Macedonian Museum of Modern Art, the Gallery of the Cyclades, Ch. Antoniou, General Bank, French Institute of Thessaloniki and National Bank of Greece, Tula Museum of Fine Arts, Russia.
She is a member of the Greek Visual Arts Chamber.
Caterina Marouda has worked at the European Cultural Center of Delphi and as a visual arts consultant at the National Bank of Greece for 27 years.
Caterina Marouda about her art
To my first exhibition in Athens, people arrived clueless. I was a young painter, just graduated from the School of Fine Art in Florence, and I prepared a big surprise for the visitors. There were huge canvasses depicting human figures with their passions and instincts, naked women with large eyes and tortured bodies, bizarre sensual situations that came across inappropriate at that time. The exhibition caused confusion for uninitiated visitors, but it also was placed in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, since Alexandros Iolas turned out to be one of the first admirers of my art.
Indeed, the crisis had a bearing on artists. However, paradoxically, they have not been affected as much as one would expect. In such times, the soul is in need of a remedy. Art is such a remedy and not only this – it can be a large stimulus for growth. Italy has supported my development as an artist and i was very lucky to be a student of my art teacher at the School of Fine Art, the great Fernando Farulli. It was Farulli who has convinced me to use large canvasses, and who taught me to overcome the fear of the big empty surface. He was an excellent teacher because he has embraced my art despite my paintings being radically different from his own. My large format canvasses resemble frescoes. I am using them to restrict the brightness of the light which, in turn, does not burst the banks of emotion. On the contrary, this way, the expression remains within the borders of autonomous forms which line up one beside the other as independent entities. Every painting represents a stage scenery in a theatre, at the backdrop of which a little story unfolds.
I wish to express my worry about such questions as ‘what is the path of life’, what journey is it that everybody undertakes, which inner processes and cognitive self-reflection as a necessary condition for self-discovery is taking place. This is why I decided to place in the middle of my artistic interest the human figure, and the human body. The figures are at times arrogant and resolute, with an Apollonic calm, sometimes afraid or dreamy, captivated by a Dionyssian passion, invite the spectator to follow them on a magic journey, using the compass of imagination. However, it is possible that I depict exclusively female figures as a reminder of the fact that life starts with a woman.
Parallel to that, I create series of painting the central topic of which is the human being. My images of butterflies do not have much to do with butterflies as we know them. They are not transparent nor translucent. With their dense, firm bodies in flying motion or in static seat, they are almost personified and are referred to as ancient symbols. For ancient Greeks, butterflies were standing for the immortal soul, whereas for the Egyptians they symbolized resurrection and for the Chinese – immortality. In fairy tales a butterfly often figures as a ferry, or she is Eros’ beloved Psyche in the ancient mythology. The pomegranate is the main symbol of the human hope for abundance. This hope is even stronger at the beginning of new life, a new year, and a new relationship. Traditionally, the newly wedded break a pomegranate together and share the kernels. Since many years I am preoccupied with flowers as something that accompanies us and expresses our emotions in the course of our lives. Flowers change as we do. Thank to the harmony of its structure and the brightness of the colour, flowers acquire a spiritual dimension. The flower becomes an intersection point of nature, emotion and the spiritual aspect of our existence.
Whatever happens to us, we always have the chance to recognize that in nature, there is harmony and beauty. My work is characterized by the red, blue and yellow colours. I believe that the combination of red and blue, but also the brightness of colour are the distinguishing characteristics of my work.The power of the image enhances the power of even the most inspiring text. I am very proud that the book ‘The traveller’ has been illustrated by my images. This book contains the wonderful Greek poems about the sea. Things and still lives are personified. No matter which theme they are illustrating, the things always function and are mentioned as a symbol of an ever restless soul.
Exhibition Caterina Marouda
ARTWORKS AVAILABLE for SALE
Caterina Marouda BIO
Caterina Marouda was born in Athens. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence to the teacher Fernando Farulli.
SOLO SHOWS
2016 “4 seasons”, Marina Keas, Vourkari, Island of Kea, Greece
2014 Omage for Zakynthos, Club Unesco for Piraeus and Islands, Greece
2010 “Gallery Toni Müller” Bern, Switzerland
2005 “NAFPAKTIA”, Nafpaktos, Greece
2003 “Gallery 7”, Athens, Greece
2000 “Gallery 7”, Athens, Greece
1998 “Gallery 7”, Athens, Greece
1996 “Zakynthos Art Hall”, Zakynthos, Greece
1994 “Zakynthos Art Hall”, Zakynthos, Greece
1993 “Epipeda” Art Halls, Athens, Greece
1992 “Pyrgos”, Kifissia, Athens, Greece
1988 “Epipeda” Art Halls, Athens, Greece
1987 “Café im Bauturm”, Cologne, Germany
1986 “Small Café”, Alexandroupolis, Greece
1985 French Institute, Thessaloniki, Greece
1983 Asteras Vouliagmenis, Vouliagmeni, Athens, Greece
1983 “Medusa”, Athens, Greece
GROUP SHOWS
2019 Greek Mythology, Malou Art Consulting and Gallery, Athens, Greece
2019 Art meets … Food, Malou Art Consulting and Gallery, Athens, Greece
2018 Greek Artists exhibition on Leo’s Tolstoy Literary Masterpieces, Museum estate, L.N. Tolstoy, “Yasnaya Polyana”, Russia
2015 Salon des artistes Français– GRAND PALAIS, Paris, France
2015 ArtExpo –aDa Art Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
2014 Salon des artistes independents, Art Capital– GRAND PALAIS, Paris, France
2013 Island of Sifnos, old School of Castle, “Feminine Creation” from National Gallery’s unrevealed works, Greece
2012 “Le mani de Gigi”, “ilDenaro”, Caserta-Napoli, Italy
2012 GK Art Gallery, Athens, Greece
2012 “Chair…..My Love”, Ersi’s Gallery, Athens, Greece
2011 “The perpetual flight” Olympic Airways, Athens, Greece
2011 Shoes ‘n Show, Museodella Scarpa Centro Tamarin, Caserta-Napoli, Italy
2009 “Myrtis: Face to face with the past”, Magna Gallery, Athens, Greece
2009 “The human form in Art”, Technopolis City of Athens, Greece
2006 “Greek art at its finest” Artphilo Gallery, Hellenic Centre, London, England
2005 Zappeio: Fashion, one designer, one artist: Erifilli-Caterina Marouda, Athens, Greece
1989 “Spirit and Body, Sports and Movement in Modern Greek Art”, Zappeio-Organizers: Ministry of Culture, General Secreteriat of Sports, Athens, Greece
1988 PeintureGreque 1968-1988, Brussels-Organizers: Ministry of Culture, National Gallery, Athens, Greece
1986 “Greek Women’s Association” Exhibition for Athens-Cultural Capital of Europe, Athens, Greece
1986 “Lassithiotakis-Marouda-Tsakiris”, Gallery “Panselinos”, Thessaloniki, Greece
1986 “Lassithiotakis-Marouda-Tsakiris”, “Epipeda” Art Halls, Athens, Greece
1986 A’ Salon jeune pendant, “Epipeda” Art Halls, Athens, Greece
1985 “The Vorres Museum Exhibition”, Kingston, Canada
1985 “The Vorres Museum Exhibition”, Hamilton, Canada
1985 “The Hellenic Dimension”, I. VorresCollection, Chicago, U.S.A.
1984 16th Hellenic Fine Arts Exhibition, Piraeus, Greece
1984 Athens College, Collection I. Vorres, Athens, Greece
OTHER PROJECTS
2010 Images designed for the book entitled “TRAVELER”, written by Elisabeth Grapsa, ISSALOS Publications
2008 1st International Conference at Sea of “Odyssey”, PATRAS-BARI
1984 Stage-painting for the play “The abduction of Smaragda”, Theatriki Prosanatolismoi Company, directed by Th. Proutzopoulos, Athens
1982 Undertakes a project for the LEDRA MARRIOT Lobby, Athens
Caterina Marouda’s works may be found in the collections of the Vorres Museum, the National Gallery, the Ministry of Culture, the Macedonian Museum of Modern Art, the Gallery of the Cyclades, Ch. Antoniou, General Bank, French Institute of Thessaloniki and National Bank of Greece, Tula Museum of Fine Arts, Russia
PUBLICATIONS
2018, Greek Artists Exhibition on Leo’s Tolstoy Literary Masterpieces, Museum estate, L.N. Tolstoy, “Yasnaya Polyana”, Russia.
2014, 9eme Salon des Artistes indépendants, Paris, France.
2010, Images designed for the book entitled “TRAVELER”, written by Elisabeth Grapsa, SISALS Publications, Athens, Greece.
2009, “The Human Form in Art”, Technopolis, City of Athens, Union of Greek Artists, Athens, Greece.
1988, Peinture Greque 1968-1988, Brussels, Ministry of Culture, National Gallery, Brussels, Belgium