Opening-Preview: Thursday, September 14, 2023
Duration: September 14-17, 2023
Location: Zappeion Mansion, 105 57 Athens, Greece
Gallery: Lola Nikolaou, booth R20
Peggy Kliafa participates with the artworks:
ARMOUR or MIGRAINE KILLER DRESS –HOMAGE TO ANDY WARHOL
2019/2022, Armour/dress on a metal hanger made of empty blisters of pills that treat migraines and painkillers, alluminium sheet, plexiglass, screws, medical IV pole with wheeled base and stop, 190 x 60 x 54 cm (dress on hanger: 104,5 x 60 cm)
ARMOUR or FLAPPER DRESS and Go on with your Bad Habits
2022, Armour/dress made of pills blisters and medicines that treat respiratory diseases (asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease etc) and nicotine dependence, alluminium sheet, plexiglass, metal chain, metal screws, medical IV pole with wheeled base and stop, 190 x 60 x 54 cm (armour/dress: : 90 x 60 cm)
ARMOUR or SLIMMING DRESS
2019/2022, Armour/dress on a metal hanger made of empty blisters of pills that treat cholesterol and obesity, alluminium sheet, plexiglass, screws, medical IV pole with wheeled base and stop, 190 x 60 x 54 cm (dress on hanger: 104,5 x 60 cm)
Pink Painkiller Armour/Dress
2022, Armour/dress on a plexiglass hanger, pills blisters and real pills for pain and inflammation, alluminium sheet, plexiglass, led light, cable, 105 x 60 x 4,5 cm
Peggy Kliafa participates in Art Athina 2023 with Lola Nikolaou’s Gallery. In this year’s fair she chose to present an installation composed of four “armour/dresses”. Three of them are hanged from medical IV poles and one is wall-mounted. They are assemblages made of full or empty blisters on metal surfaces combined with plexiglass. Through her innovative installation, the artist interprets, in her own words, “medicines as an armour that protects one’s body against disease, in the same way that a dress is a woman’s “social” armour”. Apart from being a timeless female symbol, the dress is now seen in a different light as a result of the materials from which it is made. Four dresses engage in a conversation about health problems that are mostly associated with women, like migraines and obesity, as well as their treatment with medication. Peggy Kliafa brings to the surface women’s constant battle to fit into the “dress”, while their body and soul are paying a high price.
Every “armour/dress” is a symbol both of protection and threat. It is a comment on the dual nature of medicines which is the main feature of Peggy Kliafa’s work.
The artwork entitled ARMOUR or MIGRAINE KILLER DRESS is a homage to Andy Warhol and the famous paper-dress which was created in the ‘60s. It was printed with Cambell’s soup labels to touch upon the issue of overconsumption. Moreover, this A-line dress determined the form of the dresses of Peggy Kliafa’s “armour/dress” series.
The ARMOUR or FLAPPER DRESS and Go on with your Bad Habits is an artwork made of pills blisters and medicines that treat respiratory diseases and nicotine dependence. It regards medicines as the easy way that allows the addict to carry on with their “bad habits” without the disturbing or damaging effects on their health. How bad can the excessive use of medication be for one’s health? Especially when it is generally considered as “therapeutic”?
Right next to it, there is the ARMOUR or SLIMMING DRESS, a work made of blue pills that cause weight loss and blisters of medicines that treat metabolic disorders. The anxiousness resulting from body shaming affects both men and women, as well as the struggle to live up to an ideal body type. They usually resort to bad choices for their health, avoiding the hardships of a healthy diet. Medicines are the easiest and fastest way to loose weight, but they are also the most doubtful one.
Lastly, the work named PINK PAINKILLER ARMOUR/DRESS is made of pills and blisters of medicines that fight inflammation and ease the pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases that affect mostly women. This atypical dress consists of pills on which many people depend in order to stay active at the expense of their health. According to the artist’s explanation, “the vertical stripe in the middle of the dress is not purely decorative but is really a symbol of the human doubt about the overconsumption of pharmaceutical products which often lies behind their ignorance of the real source of the problem. It is also my attempt to give shape to the phrase “cut in two” that we usually use to describe pain”.
Four “armour/dresses” raise the question of life quality. Νo matter how attractive or lightsome they are, οutward appearances are often dangerous and misleading. The artist appeals to us to base our judgment on only one factor, that being the contents within. It is a constant struggle. Hard, yet lifesaving.
Katerina Kritikou
Art Historian