Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
Encyclopedia
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art is a contemporary art museum
in Thessaloniki
, Greece
.
, after the latter had shown a keen interest in the damages inflicted on the monuments of Thessaloniki by the 1978 catastrophic earthquake, Maro proposed the creation of a contemporary art centre in Thessaloniki. Iola’s response was immediate –“Oh yes, no more hospitals and orphanages; a centre of contemporary art; that’s exactly what Thessaloniki needs.”
Alexandros Iolas
’ encounter with Thessaloniki was to acquire special significance, not only for the city but also for the posthumous fame of this singularly perceptive collector. There is nothing in Greece today to recall his inspired and creative sojourn in the country save the collection of the 47 works that he donated a generation ago as a “nucleus” around which to build a Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in this city.
It was with great joy that the Board of Directors of the MMCA decided to honour him by giving his name to the Museum’s new three-storey wing and to dedicate to him the catalogue of the permanent collection, which now numbers more than one thousand works (paintings, sculptures, installations, assemblages, engravings, photographs), in the hope that the Museum will remain independent, unconventional and open-minded, that is guided by the same principles that charactirised Iolas himself.
The gesture made by Alexandros Iolas
, the Museum’s first great benefactor, found its followers. Well-known collectors, including Magda Kotzia, Franz Geiger, Alexandros and Dorothea Xydis, Giorgos Apergis and Dimitris Meïmaroglou, and with them a host of artists, continue to offer collections and individual works, constantly expanding the Museum’s collection.
In addition to our gratitude to all the artist-donors who have thus supported the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, we wish to express our immense appreciation of their work. The formal and conceptual qualities of their work succeed in establishing a dialectic relation with the young students through the Museum’s educational programmes. Thus, the artistic message is conveyed to the young people promoting their cultural awareness.
Apart from the permanent display, the MMCA has mounted over 100 exhibitions of works by Greek and foreign artists: retrospectives of the work of Yannis Tsarouchis
, Tsoclis, Photios Kontoglou
, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas
, Kokkinidis, Alekos Fassianos
, Spyropoulos, Psychopaidis, Pavlos, Kessanlis, Akrithakis, Andy Warhol
, Katzourakis, and Perdikidis have been held for the first time in Greece; and other exhibitions have been devoted to the works of Fluxus
, Robert
and Sonia Delaunay
, Roberto Matta
, Viallat, Joseph Beuys
, Uecker, Greenaway, David Hockney
, Max Ernst
, Barlach, Max Beckmann
, Zervos, Vlassis Kaniaris, Varotsos, Takis
, Molfessis, Lazongas, Papadimitriou, Stephen Antonakos, Zongolopoulos, Mytaras, Triandafyllou, Ekonomopoulos, Alithinos, Theodoulos, and many other artists. The MMCA has published more than fifty bilingual catalogues to accompany solo and group exhibitions.
It also offers guided tours and, in the framework of EU programmes, collaborates with other museums with a view to devising educational programmes for adults.
http://www.greece-museums.com/museum/39/
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
History
The Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art Thessaloniki was founded in 1979 by a group of visionary citizens of Thessaloniki. In a conversation between Maro Lagia and Alexandros IolasAlexander Iolas
Alexander Iolas or Alexandre Iolas was a Greek - American gallerist and collector....
, after the latter had shown a keen interest in the damages inflicted on the monuments of Thessaloniki by the 1978 catastrophic earthquake, Maro proposed the creation of a contemporary art centre in Thessaloniki. Iola’s response was immediate –“Oh yes, no more hospitals and orphanages; a centre of contemporary art; that’s exactly what Thessaloniki needs.”
Alexandros Iolas
Alexander Iolas
Alexander Iolas or Alexandre Iolas was a Greek - American gallerist and collector....
’ encounter with Thessaloniki was to acquire special significance, not only for the city but also for the posthumous fame of this singularly perceptive collector. There is nothing in Greece today to recall his inspired and creative sojourn in the country save the collection of the 47 works that he donated a generation ago as a “nucleus” around which to build a Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in this city.
It was with great joy that the Board of Directors of the MMCA decided to honour him by giving his name to the Museum’s new three-storey wing and to dedicate to him the catalogue of the permanent collection, which now numbers more than one thousand works (paintings, sculptures, installations, assemblages, engravings, photographs), in the hope that the Museum will remain independent, unconventional and open-minded, that is guided by the same principles that charactirised Iolas himself.
The gesture made by Alexandros Iolas
Alexander Iolas
Alexander Iolas or Alexandre Iolas was a Greek - American gallerist and collector....
, the Museum’s first great benefactor, found its followers. Well-known collectors, including Magda Kotzia, Franz Geiger, Alexandros and Dorothea Xydis, Giorgos Apergis and Dimitris Meïmaroglou, and with them a host of artists, continue to offer collections and individual works, constantly expanding the Museum’s collection.
In addition to our gratitude to all the artist-donors who have thus supported the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, we wish to express our immense appreciation of their work. The formal and conceptual qualities of their work succeed in establishing a dialectic relation with the young students through the Museum’s educational programmes. Thus, the artistic message is conveyed to the young people promoting their cultural awareness.
The permanent collection
At present the MMCA's permanent collection comprises 2000 works by Greek and foreign artists, it is constantly being augmented by gifts from collectors, artists, gallery owners, and private individuals and constantly presented in the museum' s new wing.Apart from the permanent display, the MMCA has mounted over 100 exhibitions of works by Greek and foreign artists: retrospectives of the work of Yannis Tsarouchis
Yannis Tsarouchis
-Early life:Born in Piraeus, he studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts . He was also a student of Photios Kontoglou, who introduced him to Byzantine iconography, while he also studied popular architecture and dressing customs...
, Tsoclis, Photios Kontoglou
Photios Kontoglou
Photis Kontoglou was a Greek writer, painter and iconographer.-Life :He was raised by his mother, Despoina Kontoglou, and his uncle Stefanos Kontoglou, who was abbot in the nearby monastery of Aghia Paraskevi. He spent his childhood among the monastery, the sea and the fishermen. In 1913, he...
, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas
Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, iconographer, writer and academic...
, Kokkinidis, Alekos Fassianos
Alekos Fassianos
- Biography :Fassianos studied violin at the Athens Conservatory and painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts from 1956 to 1960 where he was taught from Yannis Moralis. He then went to Paris on a French State scholarship where he attended lessons on lithography along with Clairin and Caroline...
, Spyropoulos, Psychopaidis, Pavlos, Kessanlis, Akrithakis, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, Katzourakis, and Perdikidis have been held for the first time in Greece; and other exhibitions have been devoted to the works of Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
, Robert
Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee...
and Sonia Delaunay
Sonia Delaunay
Sonia Delaunay was a Jewish-French artist who, with her husband Robert Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. Her work extends to painting, textile design and stage set design...
, Roberto Matta
Roberto Matta
Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren , better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art....
, Viallat, Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
, Uecker, Greenaway, David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
, Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Barlach, Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...
, Zervos, Vlassis Kaniaris, Varotsos, Takis
Takis
Vassilakis Takis is an artist living in Greece. Adopted by France, his works can be found in many public locations in and around Paris.-Life and work:1940–1950...
, Molfessis, Lazongas, Papadimitriou, Stephen Antonakos, Zongolopoulos, Mytaras, Triandafyllou, Ekonomopoulos, Alithinos, Theodoulos, and many other artists. The MMCA has published more than fifty bilingual catalogues to accompany solo and group exhibitions.
Educational Programs
The MMCA organises educational programmes relating to its temporary exhibitions and permanent display, and also devises programmes for other visual arts institutions. With the help of museum educationalists, tens of thousands of children have enjoyed learning about art.It also offers guided tours and, in the framework of EU programmes, collaborates with other museums with a view to devising educational programmes for adults.
Events
Other events hosted by the MMCA include lectures, discussions on subjects relating to aesthetics, art history, and the organisation of museums and collections, presentations of books and art projects, meetings with artists, happenings, and bazaars.Library
In the library two-and-a-half thousand titles of books and periodicals on subjects relating to painting, sculpture, engraving, architecture, and photography, all the catalogues published by the MMCA, audio-visual material, and the museum's archive of artists are available to the public.Art shop
The art shop sells the museum's own publications, other art publications, both for adults and for children, works of art both unique and produced as series, utilitarian objects of an artistic nature, jewellery designed by artists, educational CD-ROMs, music CDs, posters, cards, and other inspired and inspiring gifts.External links
http://www.greece-museums.com/museum/39/