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English: Departing from an idea that evolves depending on its context, Ioannou creates her work in relation to the exhibition site, observing the environment deeply and establishing ties between its materials and inhabitants.

Using raw material of local provenance such as architectonical and construction elements, as well as textiles, the artist recollects objects which - just as poetry- can exist without an utilitarian sense.

Ioannou observes and intervenes the exhibition space, questioning the way is usually used. Her compositions are apparently simple and reveal themselves little by little. The light penetrating the site originates movement, depth and transparency in the materials, causing rhythmic alterations in this visual polyphony.

A characteristic practice in Athena Ioannou’s works is the manual repetition of certain resources in the search of aesthetic perfection through perseverance, exploring restlessly one subject, obtaining thus similar, but not identical pictorial results which demand certain sensibility from the spectator. With her unique and very consistent style - which she has been capable of maintaining organically active through time - Ioannou’s oeuvre has evolved, moving towards satiety.

Her work reflects her international orientation, as in the case of her first solo exhibition in Mexico City and her latest work in Fukuoka in the building designed by the world acclaimed architect REM Koolhaas New York office in Japan, in collaboration with Tokyo-based Art Front Gallery and the Hilario Galguera gallery in Mexico.

Athina Ioannou has been working and living in Rome and Düsseldorf since 1997, having been living and working in France since 2006 and Belgium as well. The artist set up recently a new second base in Athens, where her work is showcased permanently in public and private collections, which among others the Perianth Hotel S.A. and the Agricultural University of Athens, a site specific artwork in production with Onassis Stegi, curated by Locus Athens.

She is the recipient of the atelier Cité des Arts, Paris, the Jubiläumsstiftung der Sparkasse Neuss, the Stiftung Insel Hombroich foundation, and the Kunststiftung NRW among others.

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Her work can be found in the following public and private collections

Tenjin Business Center, Fukuoka, Japan Perianth Hotel S.A. Athens

MRAC Musée Régional d’Art Contemporain  Occitanie

L.A.C. Lieu d’Art Contemporain, Narbonne, France Deutsche Bank AG, Paris The Benaki Museum Athens

EMST National Museum of Contemporary Art Greece