“I go to Nafplio for my military service, in the Engineering Corps. They ask me what I do and I say I’m an artist, I do installations. They call me in the next day to install an air-conditioner in the commander’s office … In the barracks, I discover army ‘knitting.’ The soldiers melt the plastic laces of their combat boots to make small crosses and bracelets for their girlfriends. I lift the technique. I steal shoelaces and start working on a big dress.”
Alexandros Psychoulis’ reminiscence from his time in the army is part of the catalog of a retrospective exhibition at the Hania Municipal Art Gallery in Crete, casting a fresh look at the respected artist’s 40-year trajectory. In this particular story, he refers to the first piece he ever made using shoelaces, a material that went on to define his work, back in 1997.
This is also the piece that curator Christoforos Marinos chose to untangle the thread of Psychoulis’ history, strategically placing the black dress right by the entrance of the main hall leading into the exhibition.
“Runaway Thoughts Were My Only Danger” comprises approximately 150 works, including paintings, sculptures, mixed-media pieces and flash animations.
“Less than 20% of the artist’s work fit into the three-story Hania Gallery,” says Marinos, pointing out that most of Psychoulis’ pieces are large-scale, and are at museums and collections all over Greece and abroad. Among the pieces on show in Crete, “Mercy is a form of happiness,” is a giant whale hanging from the ceiling. Visible from all three levels, it is a link connecting the different parts of the exhibition.
