50
T
he Office, a contemporary art gallery located
at the edge of the old town centre, presented
artworks from its owner’s collection on September
10 –13 October 2015.
Founded nine years ago by Tassos A. Gkekas,
this new exhibition took the Greek gallery
owner’s personal collection to VOLKS, a former
Volkswagen warehouse, to stage
Investment
Opportunities
. The exhibition presented works of
contemporary art that Gkekas had collected over
the years, with “no intention to display them”.
Some pieces were gifted to Gkekas, while others
he acquired himself.
The collection included works by Francesca
Woodman, the precocious photographer who
took her own life at the age of 22, and Robert
Montgomery, an artist who never cared much
for the personality cult that often surrounds
great artists. The exhibition also hosted works
by Günter Brus, Nazgol Ansarinia, Charlotte
Ballesteros, Pascal Bernier, Cali Thornhill Dewitt,
Diamantis Diamantopoulos, Elizabeth Hoak-
Doering, Masahisa Fukase, Yannis Gaitis, Kurt
Hentschläger, Soteris Kallis, Andreas Karayan,
Glavkos Koumides, Andreas Nicolaou, Nicholas
Panayi, and Carol Christian Poell. Special guest:
Dimitris Merantzas.
Notes by Tassos A. Gkekas
Without the intention of planning the formation of
a collection I have, over the years, gathered these
pieces without consciously following a predefined
line, but rather a line that my instinct and
capabilities allowed. Apart from some pieces that
were given to me as a gift, the rest were gradually
acquired, many times whilst being secluded, away
from the social environment, and having built a
special relationship with the work that empowered
me over time to “appropriate” myself with it.
Without always converging or identifying with the
reality that surrounds me, a reality that cultivates a
feeling of alienation, I have collected them – while
returning to a feeling of safety through them – as
if they hosted me instead of them being hosted by
Investment Opportunities
Cali Thornhill Dewitt - Investment Opportunities
Nicolas Panayi, Carthago delenda est III,
