Spotlight

Spotlight Artist Irini Bachlitzanaki

Championed by Christina Makris
The Wick Culture - Irini Bachlitzanaki, Swoosh (Fireworks out of Season), 2023 Digital embroidery on synthetic felt in painted beech tray frame 60 x 48 x 3.5 cm Crackle (Fireworks out of Season), 2024 Digital embroidery on synthetic felt in beech tray frame 36.8 x 24.5 x 3.5 cm
Image courtesy of the artist and IONE & MANN, London
Above  Irini Bachlitzanaki, Swoosh (Fireworks out of Season), 2023 Digital embroidery on synthetic felt in painted beech tray frame 60 x 48 x 3.5 cm Crackle (Fireworks out of Season), 2024 Digital embroidery on synthetic felt in beech tray frame 36.8 x 24.5 x 3.5 cm Image courtesy of the artist and IONE & MANN, London
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The Wick Culture - Irini Bachlitzanaki
Above  Irini Bachlitzanaki
Interview
Irini Bachlitzanaki
14 August 2024
Interview
Irini Bachlitzanaki
14 August 2024
During London Gallery Weekend at the end of May, artist Irini Bachlitzanaki presented her solo exhibition, The Consolation of Imaginary Things, at Ione & Mann. Her first show with the gallery unfolded like a delightful, playful stage set with quasi-familiar props: experiments with painted MDF and tinted plaster polymer wall sculptures, reliefs and diagrammatic digital embroideries on synthetic felt that combined elements of design, decor and the domestic: a playful cat, a water jug, a ring-bound notebook – sculptures that look like drawings, flat and verging on cartoonish, comforting, yet not quite there.
Christina Makris, who is Bachlitzanaki’s patron for The Residency programme, is her champion for The Wick. She says “aside from Irini’s technical dexterity and accomplished technique, for me she is also one of those rare, philosophical ‘artist’s artists’ who can shift from depicting everyday objects—jugs, cats, plants, chairs, fans, wine glasses—in a joyous, theatrically exaggerated way, to working with representational meaning itself, offering a poetic “consolation of imaginary things.” She takes these quotidian objects, flattens, dissects, examines, diagrams, reassembles, and remounts them as painted sculptures. Her work resonates with the depth of research, experimentation, and formal thought behind the scenes, and artists who can break hierarchical categories shape shift from painting to design to sculpture remind how we can – and how we should not — take representation for granted.”

Bachlitzanaki concurs that “A lot of the inspiration for my work and accompanying research comes from material culture, and my interest in how we interact with objects and all sorts of material goods as part of our daily lives.” Fascinated by the ability of inanimate objects to either produce or illustrate certain connections, relations and dynamics, she explains “I often think of the objects that I make as stage props—and and how this can lead to looking at them and the world around us a bit differently.” Design and craft are reference pools she returns to constantly, and lately she’s also been addressing “different coping mechanisms and techniques of sorts and address ideas of care, including self-care, and support.”

Following the success of her first exhibition at Ione & Mann, in Autumn Bachlitzanaki will feature in a group exhibition at Christie’s, London organised by The Residency from CURA Art. Bachlitzanaki says, “I took part in the residency just this past June and it was brilliant so I really look forward to the show and re-connecting with everyone.” Also coming up this autumn is a duo exhibition with artist Myrto Xanthopoulou in Athens – the artist’s hometown – in the context of larger interdisciplinary project by curatorial team miss dialectic. “It’s the first iteration of a more longterm collaboration which Myrto and I have been developing for a while, sparked by the many ways in which our works—and lives— intersect.” Bachlitzanaki was joined at The Residency by former Spotlight Bobbye Fermie.

By chance, though distinct in form and intent, both of these exhibition have community and collaboration at their centre, the outcome of working together long term, bouncing ideas of each other, and making work in the same space – “a nice change from the usual studio routine where work is rather solitary.” Bachlitzanaki points out another important aspect of this most recent body of work with Xanthopoulou. “The ideas—and works— we have been developing also address ideas of working and operating together or alongside one another in an effort to cope.” In the precarious times in which we are living, this kind of practice seems like a sustainable way to face the future.

About the champion

The Wick Culture - Dr. Christina Makris

Dr. Christina Makris is an author and consultant driving strategic engagement for businesses and brands through philosophy and knowledge transfer. Christina advises private investors on alternative investment strategies and is a climate capital investor. Her career spans academia, intellectual property commercialisation, and venture capital investment, in sectors ranging from energy, fintech, hospitality, luxury, and arts and culture. She holds two MAs, an MPhil, and a doctorate in Philosophy, and professional qualifications in Investment Management and Wine. Her first book, Aesthetic Dining: The Art Restaurant Around the World, explores the intersection of food and aesthetics, featuring stories from prominent artists and chefs. She writes a monthly column on wine for Apollo, lectures on wine and gastronomy, and is currently finishing a book on wine and art.

“Aside from Irini’s technical dexterity and accomplished technique, for me she is also one of those rare, philosophical ‘artist’s artists.”

Dr. Christina Makris

Place of Birth

Athens, Greece

Education

History of Art at UCL and Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, the Royal Academy Schools in London.

Awards, Accolades

The Gilbert Bayes Award in 2020, the Wolfson College graduate prize in 2021 and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS in 2022. In 2023 I was shortlisted both for the ACS Studio Prize and the Ingram Prize.

Current exhibitions

My latest solo exhibition The Consolation of Imaginary Things came to an end just a few weeks ago at IONE & MANN, London. Browse the exhibition here.

Advice

Develop a little bit of a thick skin, go all in, and be kind.


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