UNDERFLOW ATHENS | MASK EXHIBITION

Underflow is an interesting, interdisciplinary space in Athens. It is a record shop, an exhibition space, a bar and also hosts live music events.

For the last few years the space has exhibited masks from the collection of late Nicos Papageorgiou. In his lifetime Papageorgiou travelled the world and clearly had a great eye for selecting masks from numerous countries. He compiled a spectacular collection of hundreds of masks. These masks are too many to all be exhibited at once at Underflow, so sections of the collection are exhibited in rotation over a long period of time.

They truly are marvellous artworks. It is wonderous seeing how one theme can be explored and reinvented in so many different ways, amongst different cultures and at the hands of varying artists. Varying in scale, medium and genre. However, they all have life in them, whether it be via their expression or sense of mysticism. They are all personalities, and seeing them on display together is truly captivating. They also demonstrate great imagination in their design, often combing the human form with animal form, or an imagined being and so on. The depictive form merges with abstraction and varying crafts are experimented with, creating highly unusual and inventive designs.

Photography: Ioannis Nikolaou