City of Athens, through OPANDA, presents the solo exhibition “Ever Given” by Efi Haliori at the Athens City Gallery, from 21 November 2024 to 12 January 2025.

In the new exhibition of Efi Haliori, images of ports and quarries coexist harmoniously, inviting the viewer to unravel the thread that connects them. In both the quarries and the ports, the human absence is emphatically stated. Within the industrial scale of these sites, her uninhabited photographs resemble an unadulterated landscape that fascinates with its contrasts. The two themes culminate in a single image projected alone, enlarged in a darkened room: a static image, yet teeming with life and human presence and, as with all the images in the exhibition, the interpretation remains open.

Another characteristic of Haliori’s photographs is the minimal intervention in the processing of the image and in its recording, in what she sees through the lens. The presence of the photographer is unobtrusive, she rather wants to go unnoticed and she succeeds. Her gaze, though probing, does not impose itself on the image; it is soft, subtle, caressing the landscape and the relief surfaces that make it up. There is nothing pretentious or pretentious about her photographs. You get the impression that the photographer almost disappears, so that her images effortlessly become your possession, part of your field of vision, your memory and your references.

With or without people, there is no doubt that Haliori’s images are timeless. Only the names of the ships, such as the tanker “Leonora Victory” and the imposing freighter “Ever Given”, which gives the exhibition its title, bring us back to the present and remind us that what we see in these photographs is what we live in and often do not realize it: a globalized condition of exchange of goods through trade. Haliori presents this world of intense commercial exchange at a standstill: docked ocean-going ships, stacked containers, large chunks of raw marble before being shipped to China to be turned into bathtubs and sinks. Her gaze focuses on details, on cracks, on the textures of the marbles and ships, bringing out their material dimension.

Gradually the viewer unlocks the connection between the quarries and the ports, but also the reason for the photographs’ coexistence in the exhibition space: Transport and transit trade, i.e. economy and labour as commonalities. A container that can carry marbles but also refugees, loads of inanimate and animate cargo. Danger, lurking death, the reckless exploitation of natural resources and people, unchecked capitalist development, the wild beauty and awe of these male-dominated spaces are also links. The gravity-stability of the quarry (land) and the fluidity-mobility of the harbour (water) are two contrasting traits, but here they function in a complementary way. But the most interesting common element, their hidden affinity, is that we are dealing with heterotopias.

Efi Haliori is an artist based in Athens. She has participated in various exhibitions in galleries and art centers internationally. Her work deals with the perishable nature of both human life and the planet through her own geographical location and experience. Simplicity, minimalism and abstraction are key elements in her overall work. Through persistent observation, she conveys a concentrated experience of her subject matter rather than simply aesthetic documentation.

www.efihaliori.com
www.instagram.com/efihaliori/?hl=en

The exhibition is curated by Christoforos Marinos.

The opening of the exhibition will take place on Thursday 21 November at 19:00.

Duration: 21 November 2024 – 12 January 2025

Opening Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11:00-19:00, Sunday 10:00-16:00, Mondays closed

Admission to the audience is free

City of Athens Gallery:

Leonidou&Myllerou, Avdi Square, Metaxourgio

Information: 210 5202420| www.opanda.gr