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15 December 2022

Andreas Angelidakis’ Center for the Critical Appreciation of Antiquity­ ­– commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary – was on view at the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (ΕΜΣΤ) in the major group show “Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies)” from 15 December 2022 – 5 November 2023. Following presentations in Germany, Estonia, and the Netherlands, “Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies)” was expanded in this latest iteration to feature works by Greek artists, including an adapted version of Angelidakis’ large-scale installation Center for the Critical Appreciation of Antiquity­, commissioned by Audemars Piguet Contemporary in 2022.

 “Modern Love (or Love in the Age of Cold Intimacies)” investigated the effects of the internet, social media, and market forces on our most intimate human bonds. The research-based exhibition provided a natural platform for Angelidakis’ practice which examines how architecture – as both physical and virtual constructions – influences our relationships with one another and ourselves.

Oscar Niemeyer, Espace Niemeyer, 1965

© 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich

Based in Athens, Greek artist Andreas Angelidakis (b. 1968) is classically trained as an architect, though he refers to himself as “an architect who doesn’t build.” In the early 2000s, Angelidakis moved away from designing physical buildings and started to create and engage with 3D virtual architectural spaces. His practice examines the idea of ruin—of both ancient and contemporary societies. He views architecture as a site of social interaction, creating works that reflect on the sociology and history of modernism in architecture, urban culture and digital media.

Angelidakis trained as an architect at Southern California Institute of Architecture and has Master’s degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. 

 

He has contributed as an artist or curator in a range of global exhibitions including: “The State of the Art of Architecture” at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, the 12th Baltic Triennial at the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius and “Super Superstudio” at PAC Milano, all in 2015, as well as Documenta14 in Athens and Kassel in 2017. In 2019, he participated in the Bergen Assembly, contributing a multifunctional social seating system to Paul B. Preciado's “Parliament of Bodies” for Documenta14, as well as the Biennial of Moving Image at OGR in Torino. Among the exhibitions he has curated are “The System of Objects” at Deste Foundation in Athens, Super Superstudio at PAC in Milano, Fin de Siècle at Swiss Institute in New York, Period Rooms at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam, and OOO Object Oriented Ontology at Kunsthalle Basel.

“Center for the Critical Appreciation of Antiquity" is both a metaphorical excavation into the history of Athens and into myself as an artist.

Andreas Angelidakis

Artist

Andreas Angelidakis in his studio

Andreas Angelidakis (B. 1968) lives and works in Athens. Trained as an architect with a Bachelor of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture and a Master’s degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, he maintains a multi-disciplinary practice as architect, artist, curator and writer centred on research and exhibition, often examined through the lens of the internet. 

Angelidakis has consistently challenged the end product of architectural practice by reversing the representation-to-realisation sequence of the production of buildings. He often starts with an existing building, producing models, films, ruins, installations or alternative histories, blurring fact and fiction and smoothing out the borders between the real and the virtual. He has contributed as an artist or curator in a range of global exhibitions including: “The State of the Art of Architecture” at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, the 12th Baltic Triennial at the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius and “Super Superstudio” at PAC Milano, all in 2015, as well as “documenta14” in Athens and Kassel in 2017. In 2019, he participated in the Bergen Assembly, contributing a multifunctional social seating system to Paul B. Preciado's “Parliament of Bodies” for documenta14, as well as the Biennial of Moving Image at OGR in Torino. Among the exhibitions he has curated are The System of Objects at Deste Foundation in Athens, Super Superstudio at PAC in Milano, Fin de Siècle at Swiss Institute in New York, Period Rooms at Het Nieuwe Instituut Rotterdam, and OOO Object Oriented Ontology at Kunsthalle Basel.