Biography

Egypt, of fundamental importance for the cosmopolitan dimension and multifaceted cultural development of the Greek Diaspora, is the birthplace of Kóstis Parthénis (1878-1967) and Giánnis Kefallinós (1894-1957), where the romantic Greek painters Theódoros Rállis (1852-1909), Periklís Tsirígotis (1860-1924), and Tháleia Flóra-Karavia (1871-1960) excelled, and where the pioneering landscape painter Kostántinos Maléas (1879-1928) and Dimitrios Lítsas (1881-1952) were inspired to create their works. It is also where the internationally renowned art critic Christian Zervos (1889-1970) took his first steps. It was in this country that the painter-sculptor-engraver Ópy Zoúni was born. Zoúni belongs to a generation of more experimental artists who started with the birth year of Chrónis Bótsoglou, Giánnis Boutéas, and Níkos Parális, all of whom sought a personal visual language, daring to express innovative trends and pursue new formulations.[1] In Cairo, where she was born, Zoúni spent the entire first two decades of her life. She received a French education and from the start, developed a tendency towards the art of painting, thanks mainly to her mother. She was the daughter of Giánnis Sarpákis, whose roots were from Crete—her grandfather was the benefactor Stylianós Sarpákis—and Eléni, née Bátistas. In 1945, she lost her father, and in 1951, her mother. The Egyptologist Giorgos Michaïlídis, with a collecting passion and knowledge of ancient cultures as well as modern art, would thereafter take over her upbringing, as well as that of her brother Stélios. Between 1959-62, she studied painting under Achod Zorian (1905-1970). At the same time, she attended ceramics and photography courses. At the age of 21, once she reached adulthood and had the means, she moved to Athens. There, she passed the exams for the Athens School of Fine Arts, where she studied from 1963-1968 under Giánnis Móralis (1916-2009), while also attending ceramics (1963-1965) and scenography (1967-1969) with Vasilís Vasileiádis. She followed the History of Art courses by Pantélis Prevelákis with particular dedication. In 1965, she married Alékos Zoúnis, with whom she had two children, Pétros and Giánnis. Her work was first presented in 1967 at the 9th “Panellínio,” and her first solo exhibition was organized in France in 1970. As she stated in a later interview: “With a foreign passport, I entered the Greek artistic scene. I couldn’t present my work in a solo exhibition in Greece, as a woman and as a pioneer, so I started in 1970 from France.”[2] She and her family settled in Old Pentéli, where she had a spacious and bright studio, and where she became involved in local affairs, founding the Pentéli Cultural Club, highlighting the Megaron Dukíssis Plakentías, by handing it over to the Municipality of Pentéli, and contributing to the cessation of marble extraction. In 1974, she faced health problems, mainly due to insomnia that troubled her, which she eventually overcame thanks to her continuous creative and social activity, as well as her dyslexia, which she never concealed. She passed away on December 5, 2008, after a long battle with the chronic disease she had been suffering from since 1996, without letting it hinder her relentless continuation of her work.

Ópy Zoúni had already presented her works in 1962 in Cairo, but her creative journey systematically begins in the 1970s, after her exhibition in Biarritz, France. In 1971, she presented her work at the Hellenic-American Union in Athens, demonstrating her skill in op-art (optical art) and plastic manipulation.[3] Her work was immediately noticed, not only by Al. Xýdis, but also by Éfi Andréadi, Tóni Spitéris, and others.[4] Subsequently, Dora Iliopoulou-Rogan, as well as Veatríkí Spiliádi, would write regularly about her in the daily press. Her presence in the visual scene was further solidified with her exhibition at “Desmos” in 1973, where her tendency towards a “ascetic constructivism” became clear, and her work was distinguished for its “exemplary execution” in “craftsmanship.”[5] Her constructions were characterized from that exhibition onward, as pointed out by T. Spitéris, by a “rhythmization of the surface, with its interruption by harmonious incisions, with rectangular vertical projections.”[6] In 1975, she exhibited at the Athens Art Gallery. On the occasion of this exhibition, she emphasized, in an interview, the element of continuity that distinguishes her work. This continuity and stability lie in her approach to seeing “things in their true size without romantic or other distortions, but with an ideological extension,” working, as she states, with contrasts and the symbolic use of colors, as well as the use of light in such a way as to enhance the depth, as emphasized by D. Fatouros.[7] A key role in the promotion of her work was played by the prominent collector and gallery owner of the Diaspora, Aléxandros Iólas, who saw her work in 1981 and encouraged her. Steadily advancing through the continuous creation of works and further analysis of her art, developing it in series (“Cuts-Deadlocks,” “Bundles of Light,” “Order in Chaos,” etc.), she went on to organize dozens more solo exhibitions in Greece[8] and abroad.[9] She participated in over 250 group exhibitions, among which the following can be mentioned as examples: 8th Biennale of Alexandria and the 81st Salon of Independents in Paris in 1970; 1971 exhibition with plastics at the Hellenic-American Union (with 13 artists participating, including Xenákis, Kanagkínis, Toúgias, Choutopúlou, Diokhánti, Xagoráris, Piladákis, Dávou, Papaspýrou);[10] Salon of New Sculpture in Paris (also participating in the next two years) in the Gardens of the Champs-Élysées and Espace-Pierre-Cardin in 1973, with 13 Greek artists, including Andréou, Apérgis, Zogolópolos; an exhibition organized the same year in Amsterdam by the Artistic-Spiritual Center “Óra” and the Chair of Byzantine and Modern Greek Literature of the University of Amsterdam (also with D. Gounáridis, P. Zouboulákis, L. Kanakákis, Chr. Karás, M. Katsourákis, V. Katráki, As. Baharián, G. Boutéas, F. Tárlow, P. Tétsi); exhibition by the group “Processes / Systems” at the Athens Art Gallery in 1976, with theoretical framing by Emm. Mavrommátis (with the participation of Michális Katsourákis, Giánnis Míhas, Giánnis Boutéas, Bía Dávou, Nausiká Pástra, and Pantélis Xagoráris). She participated in many Print Biennales worldwide, while receiving the national award at the UNESCO International Painting Festival in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1971 and the first prize in Ukraine at the Ivanko Frankvisk International Biennal Impreza exhibition in 1989. She also received a special distinction in 1990 in Lviv and was awarded in the 1997 International Print Exhibition at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon. She also illustrated book covers, participated in academic panels, and wrote articles for academic journals, with her most notable publication being the article “Space through Colour and Illusion,” in 1985 in the journal Leonardo (Vol. 18, Issue 2, pp. 96-99) of MIT. Her works are part of important collections and museums worldwide, such as the Museum of Postwar Abstract Art (Kulturspelcher Museum), the Peter C. Ruppert Collection in Würzburg, Germany (the largest collection of specific art), the Museum of Montpellier (specialized in abstract art), the European Union Building Collection in Brussels, the EPMAS, and more.

The work of Ópy Zoúni is integrated, without being limited exclusively, within the framework of optical art, constructivist logic, and geometric abstraction, moving on many levels, creating shadows and movement with light and the intense coexistence of contrasting color plates, always used in highly considered proportions. Her first love was Picasso, followed by Mondrian and Stella.[11] Her references to De Chirico and Malevitch are also evident, as reflected in her tendency to combine limited space with a sense of indeterminacy.[12] Her willingness to abolish the conventional boundaries of art corresponds to the prompts of abstract expressionist artists, such as Keneth Noland (1924-2010).[13] Her works are not limited to two dimensions and often, as Diana Antonakátou emphasizes, “they 'exit' from the confines of the painted surfaces of the canvas, extending into the room and defining a space that is not merely that of perspective.”[14] From the 1980s onward, she also ventured into virtual reality and gradually became interested in computer graphics. In 1982, she introduced mirrors into her works, aiming to further enhance movement while simultaneously highlighting the theatrical and stage dimensions of her art.[15] Manólis Mavrommátis has emphasized that, initially, “she viewed the world as a spectacle that she reconstructed,” and that she focused secondarily on the perspective relationships, multiplying and interweaving them.[16] During the period when she essentially arrived at her core artistic proposition, which she would explore to its extreme limits, the theories of chaos emerged, as highlighted by the Russian-Jewish Ilya Prigogine, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977.[17] It seems that Zoúni sought, through her research, to express these relationships that nature's systems express in terms of the “disruptive balance,” which is ultimately the rule, as opposed to an outdated idea of an eternal cosmic stability.[18] Her relationship with the natural sciences is also reflected in her use of mathematics in her work, a component she incorporated early into visual arts, along with Pantélis Xagoráris (1929-2000).[19] Cháris Kampourídis also noted her connection with the work of Josef Albers (1888-1976), who “talks about the 'intellectual reverie' and the mental concentration brought by the arabesques with their rhythmic shapes.”[20] She herself has admitted her debt to the Bauhaus School and her first artistic inspiration, which was none other than the arabesques in Egypt. In an interview, she emphasized the uniqueness of her use of perspective, taking on a modern dimension: “The way I use perspective is sometimes consciously unorthodox, and that is where its importance lies for me.”[21] In any case, Zoúni does not deviate from an internal approach to representationality, providing us with “conceptual landscapes,” as Pierre Restany calls them,[22] reminiscent of Nicolas de Staël (1914-1955), but applying, with her work, which always has its roots in nature and the instinctive relationship with light as she experienced it in Egypt and Attica, as Restany points out, the geometric rigor of Mondrian, corrected under the light of Matisse.[23]

Anestis Melidonis

Art Historian

Scientific Collaborator of the Hellenic Diaspora Foundation

[1] See Chrysanthos Christou, Greek Art: 20th Century Painting, Athens 1996, p. 32.

[2] Fotini Barka, “With Color and Light,” Eleftherotypia, 13/11/2006 (source: ISET – National Gallery).

[3] See Alexandros Xydis, Proposals for the History of Modern Greek Art. Vol. A' Formation – Evolution, Athens 1976, p. 276.

[4] See Efi Andreadi, To Vima newspaper, 10/7/1971.

[5] A. Xydis, op. cit., p. 286.

[6] Ta Nea newspaper, 18/1/1973 (source: ISET – National Gallery).

[7] See Achilleas Chatzopoulos, Thessaloniki newspaper, 3/1/1975 (source: op. cit.).

[8] 1976, “Poliplano,” Athens; 1978, A.T.A., Athens; 1980, “Contemporary Printmaking,” Athens; 1982, “Medusa,” Athens; 1984, Galerie 3, Athens; 1985, “Wind,” Kifisia; 1986, “The Third Eye,” Athens; 1987, Goulandris Museum, Andros & “Thorn,” Athens; 1988, “Expression,” Glyfada & “Stravrakaki,” Heraklion & “Eirmos,” Thessaloniki & “Wind,” Kifisia; 1989, Vellideio Cultural Center, Thessaloniki; 1990, A.T.A., Athens; 1992, French Institute of Athens & A.T.A., Athens; 1993, “Mill,” Thessaloniki & “Amymone,” Ioannina; 1996, “Kreonnidis,” Athens & Art Athina & “ArtForum,” Thessaloniki; 1998, “Adam Galleries,” Athens & “Wind,” Kifisia & Patras Municipal Gallery; 1999, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens; 2000, “Expression,” Glyfada & “ArtForum,” Thessaloniki & “Wind,” Kifisia & 8th Art Athina; 2002, Haritos Gallery, Athens & “Scorpio,” Trikala & Christos Karela Gallery, Nea Psychiko & Cyclades Gallery, Ermoupoli; 2003, “Observer,” Thessaloniki & “Skoufa,” Athens & Center for Contemporary Art of Larissa & Sani Festival Art Center, Halkidiki; 2004, “Wind,” Kifisia; 2005, “Kapopoulos,” Alimos; 2006, Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens & “Lola Nikolaou,” Thessaloniki & Galerie F, Karditsa; 2007, “Artistic Circle,” Athens & Bellonio Cultural Center, Fira, Santorini; 2008, Hellenic-Germanic School, Pallini. Posthumous solo exhibitions were held as follows: 2012, European Cultural Center of Delphi; 2013, Michalis Kakogiannis Foundation, Athens & Radisson Blu Park Hotel, Athens; 2016, Benaki Museum, Athens; Depot Art Gallery, Athens; 2019, History Museum of the University of Athens; 2022, Roma Gallery, Athens. Finally, in 2023, a commemorative event was organized in her memory by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens titled: “Accounting for the Matter and Color of a Sound.”

[9] 1980, Centre International d'Experimentation Artistique M.-L. Jeanneret, Boissano, Italy & Musée Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Lausanne; 1982, “M.-L. Jeanneret,” Geneva; 1984, Galerie Samy Kinge, Paris; 1986, Internationaal Cultureel Centrum, Antwerp; 1989, Galerie des Arts, Skopje & Galerie Kara, Geneva; 1991, Galerie Kara, Geneva; 1994, Galerie J J Donguy, Paris & Palais Hirsch, Swetzingen; 1999, Hellenic Foundation for Culture, Berlin; 2001, MiArt, Milan & Association d'Art Contemporain Chamalières; 2002, State Gallery of Contemporary Cypriot Art, Nicosia.

[10] The exhibition follows a few months of experimental collaboration between the artists and the technicians of the company “Apco – Hellas” (see Miltos Paraskevayidis, “Modernization of Art with 'Plastic,'” Eleftheros Kosmos, 13/10/1971, source: op. cit.).

[11] See Elena Chamalidi, “1961-70: Early Works and Constructions,” in Ópy Zoúni: The Path of the Idea. The Path of the Form. 1961-2003, p. 10.

[12] See Bernard Fauchille, “The Permeable Space,” in op. cit., p. 46.

[13] Lina Tsikouta, “Renewal in Geometry. Dream Transfer or Experience of Reality? Contemporary Structured Spaces. The Painting of Ópy Zoúni: 1992-1996,” in Ópy Zoúni, March-April 1996, Kreonidis Art Gallery, Athens.

[14] Diana Antonakáto, “From the Exhibitions,” Imerisia, 2/2/1975, (source: ISET – National Gallery).

[15] See Bia Papadopoulou, “Ambiguous Geometry,” in op. cit., p. 78.

[16] Emmanouil Mavrommátis: “Systems of Perspective Relations – Systems of Sight,” in op. cit., p. 82.

[17] Among his 2-3 close collaborators was the then scientist of the Diaspora, Mary Theodosopoulou, who later returned to Greece, where she became one of the most prominent literary critics.

[18] See René Berger, “Ópy Zoúni or the Displaced Geometry,” in op. cit., p. 136.

[19] Eleni Vakalo, “The Constructions in Art,” Ta Nea, 9/2/1973 (source: ISET – National Gallery).

[20] Cháris Kampourídis, “Prayer in the Labyrinth. The Artistic Path of Ópy Zoúni, a Thread of Timeless Self-Knowledge,” in Ópy Zoúni: Paths in Light and Color, 14/11/2006-20/1/2007, N. P. Goulandris Foundation, Museum of Cycladic Art, p. 20.

[21] Ópy Zoúni, Adam Publications, Athens 1997, p. 107.

[22] Pierre Restany, “Mondrian in the Light of Matisse,” in Ópy Zoúni, 22/2-30/3/1986, International Cultureel Centrum, Antwerp, p. 7.

[23] Ibid., p. 9.