Irini Karayannopoulou is a world known impostor, poses as a physician and sells great quantities of her elixir of youth; in the mid eighties she was imprisoned for a share in the affaire of the Diamond Necklace. Afterwards, she had a vision in which she was told to sing of the Creation. Professor of Economics in Stockholm she is an expert of currency problems and attended the International Conference at Geneva in 1922. She captured Babylon, united the Medes and Persians and made Susa her capital. Irini Karayannopoulou took spiritual charge of the leper settlement at Honolulu in 1873. Queen from birth, she is the opponent of Lincoln in the question of the extension of slavery and writes a great deal; many volumes of her writings have been published. As well as, she compiled The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland which was one of the sources for Shakespeare.
After a period of study in Paris she became a doctor but five years later gave up the profession to become an artist; among her many, beautiful works are The Eros Fountain in Piccadily, the Kiss of Victory and the statue of the Indian Ocean. Personal name of the central figure of Christianity, she was born in the stable of an inn. She strengthened the authority of Rome, saved the city from Attila, founded the Isaurian dynasty and discovered polonium and radium; for this she was awarded a Nobel prize. Chief assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, captain of the G.E.R steamer Brussels, she succeeded in ramming a German submarine and the following year was captured by a man –like anthropoid ape. She was offered a malodorous flower with green petals by the Prince of Portugal who was the husband of Catherine, a Roman Catholic. Her vengeful disposition at the bestowal of the golden apple upon Aphrodite caused her to side with the Greeks against the Trojans. She later discovered the planet Uranus and was made astronomer to George III for whom she compiled a star catalogue. After an Arctic voyage and the first crossing of Greenland she attempted -unsuccessfully- to reach the North Pole. However, she rose to fame and a series of spectacular victories made her the idol of France. She destroyed Prussian opposition at the battles of Austerlitz and Jena and returned to Athens followed by a painter whose output was enormous. 600 paintings, 2000 drawings and 300 etchings. These include landscape work and portrait studies of which the studies of old age are noteworthy. The symbol of Khepe-Ra, a creative form of the sun-god, she was made in many materials such as precious stones, glazed faience, gold and, rarely, amber or ivory..
OR, IF YOU PREFERIrini Karayannopoulou is an artist.Her work comprises painting, collage, drawings, editions, curatorial projects and moving image. She is the editor of JANUS Femzine, the co-founder of artist duo Extra-Conjugale and the co-pilot of Twin Automat films. She lives in Athens, Greece.
Solo Projects
2024 Luna, Clubhouse Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey
2024 Art Residency with Istanbul’74, Istanbul, Turkey
2023 Midi Minuit Fantastique, Lendroit Editions, Rennes, France
2023 JANUS #3 launch, Keresbino, Hydra, Greece
2023 Aphrodisiac Intelligence, Polana Institute, Hydra, Greece
2023 Light Snacks and Heavy Make-up, with Hippolyte Hentgen, Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens, Greece
2023 JANUS #2 launch, Hyper Hypo Project Space, Athens, Greece
2022 Life on Venus, Polana Institute, Warsaw, Poland
2021 Hotberg, Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens, Greece
2021 Sleeping Odyssey, Polana Institute, Puro Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
2021 Elixsir, Una boccata d’arte, Polcenigo, Italy
2020 Mode International, Salon de Normandy, Rare Books Paris, Paris, France
2019 The Woman Who Gave Birth To Herself, Aetopoulos, Athens, Greece
2019 The Witching Hour, O Showroom, Athens, Greece
2018 Monaco (Extra-Conjugale, Twin Automat) Luis Leu, Karlsruhe, Germany*
2018 Xoanon (Extra-Conjugale, Twin Automat) Six d.o.g.s Project Space, Athens, Greece*
2017 Fantasio (with Twin Automat) My Playce, Athens, Greece
2016 YOU AM I, Epifanios Haute Couture, Athens, Greece
2016 YOU AM I, Laureen Thomas Gallery, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France*
2015 YOU AM I, Septième Etage, Geneva, Switzerland
2014 Informal Gardens, Palagkas Temporary, London UK*
2013 ZOO.OOO (Extra-Conjugale) Six d.o.g.s Project Space, Athens, Greece*
2013 Teeter-Totter, Zino Project (Extra-Conjugale), Athens, Greece
2013 Immaterial, Holy Room, Athens, Greece
2012 Perdant Magnifique, Bob Design Gallery, Paris, France
2012 LUST headquarters, Athens, Greece
2012 Slings (Extra-Conjugale) LUST headquarters, Athens, Greece
2011 LUX, Chez Claire une Dame, Athens, Greece
2011 Terra Nostra, (Extra-Conjugale) Gray Gallery, Skopelos, Greece
2010 Immaterial, Lola Nikolaou gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece*
2009 Hinterland, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Athens, Greece
2008 Gray gallery, Skopelos, Greece
2007 Gems, Gray gallery, Skopelos, Greece
2006 Negociating Gravity, Vitamin Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy*
2005 The Hanging Garden Experience, Lola Nikolaou gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece
2004 Unlimited Contemporary, Athens, Greece
2003 Lola Nikolaou gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece*
2001 Institut Francais de Thessalonique, Greece*
2000 Kamara 2000, Egnatia Odos, Thessaloniki, Greece*
1999 Zefxis gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece*
1998 Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste, Karlsruhe, Germany*
1998 Pascale Cottard-Olsson gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
1997 Galerie de St Paul en Cornillon, France
Group Projects
2024
Damien Deroubaix and Guests, Nosbaum Reding, Luxembourg
The House of Shila launch, Mona Athens
Friendly Fires, Cubitt, London, UK
Crash Club, Warsaw, Poland
Magic Mirror (curation), Hydra, Greece
Anatomia Humana (curation), Black Bird Rook, London, UK
2023
Ecstasy, film project with Paulina Olowska, Visual Persuations, Fondazione Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy
Tableaux : Painting as Stage, Lea Bridge Library, London, UK
Utopia, Hydra Book Club, Hydra, Greece
Intersections, A.Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens, Greece
Art Athina, A.Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens, Greece
2022
Sheltered Gardens, PCAI, Diomedes Botanic Garden, Athens, Greece
Cocktail Hotell Astronaut, Mona Athens, Greece
Fantasio (Twin Automat), Café des Images, Artothèque de Caen, France
Showcase, Bravo Bravo Editions, Dancehouse, Lefkosia, Cyprus
Art Athina, A.Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens, Greece
The Sound of Colors, live animation, TV Control Center, Athens, Greece
2021
She Classicita, Museum of the University of Warsaw, Polana Institute, Poland
Au dessus du soleil, a.mano studio, Biarritz, France
The right to breathe, Undercurrent, New York USA
2020
Lipiu, A-Dash, Athens, Greece
A.O – B.C. An audiovisual diary, State of Concept, Athens, Greece
Counting approximately 1.5 m, A. Antonopoulou Gallery, Athens, Greece
Silent Spring, O Showroom, Athens, Greece
5th Razem Pamoja Foundation, Contemporary Art Auction, Warsaw, Poland
2019
Overview Effect: Encountering the Cosmos, MOMus Museums, Thessaloniki, Greece
Playing Ground, Automatic Transmission, Athens, Greece
Paint, also known as blood, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland
City in Pieces, Okto, Critical Institute for Art and Politics, Athens, Greece
Never below zero, Snehta Residency, Athens, Greece
2018
I used to be funny but now I am dead, CAN Christina Androulidaki Gallery, Athens, Greece
Rag to Rich, Deree – The American College of Greece
Don’t judge a cover by its artist, TAF Foundation, Athens, Greece
The diary of a seamstress, a.antonopoulou gallery, Athens, Greece
The Collection of Christian Schmid, FoKiaNou artspace, Athens, Greece
Of Death and Other Demons, (Twin Automat), CAN Gallery, Athens, Greece
2017
Odds and Ends, Galleryske, Bangalore, India
Conspiracy Boogie, (Twin Automat) CIRCUS 3000, Karlsruhe, Germany
Xoanon (Twin Automat) Galerientage Circus 3000, Karlsruhe, Germany
Xoanon (Twin Automat) FDCEP, Grand Action, Paris, France
Disco Fashion, GR80’s, Technopolis, Athens, Greece
2016
No Future, 1st Performance Biennale, Athens, Greece (Extra-Conjugale)
Asthenia, Romantso, Athens, Greece
Group show, Snehta Residency, Athens, Greece
2015
Les Soirées MACA, Athens, Greece
Kenophobia, CAN gallery, Athens, Greece
Boom Bang II, Northampton, UK
The Velvet Invention, (Extra-Conjugale), Romantso, Athens, Greece
2014
Kalyva, Romantso, Athens, Greece* (Extra-Conjugale)
Dayz of Glory, Openshowstudio, Athens, Greece
Art Athina, Cube Art Editions, Athens, Greece
2013
An Urban Film Map, Remap 4, Athens, Greece
Smile at the Strange, VYCA, Athens, Greece
Expanding Foam and Intellectuals, ReMap 4, Athens, Greece,
The Anchor, Lustlands, Peloponnese, Greece
Lustlands, The NY Rematerialization, Family Business, New York, USA
Deja vecu, Anamesa, Athens, Greece.(Extra-Conjugale)
All three yellows, One year Lust, Frown Tails, Athens, Greece
The Transparency of sex, Old hospital of Amphissa, Greece
Last winter in summer, Circus 2000, Karlsruhe, Germany
2012
(ON)Accordance, Grand Union, Newcastle, UK
Improvisational Sound Performance with Sabu Toyozumi, Syros, Greece
128kbps Objects, Newcastle, UK
128kbps Objects, (Extra-Conjugale) Newcastle, UK
Immaterial, Common View, National Theater of Greece.
Lustlands, (Extra-Conjugale) Thermisia Argolidos, Greece
Videodrome, Camp, Athens, Greece
Boiling Point, Kunstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria
Zootrope, Camp, Athens, Greece
2011
Ghost, Embros theater, Athens, Greece
Epekeina, Municipal Gallery of Athens, Greece*
Art Athina, Cube Art Editions, Athens, Greece*
K.I.M.O.L.I.A, Athens, Greece.
BYOB Kunsthalle Athena, Athens, Greece.
Live performance with XYSM at the XYZ Outlet, Athens, Greece.
Animacall, Thessalonki, Greece
2010
Immaterial, Rencontres Internationales du film, Centre G. Pompidou, Paris, France.*
Mixed and Mastered, Centre for Visual Introspection, Bucharest, Romania*
Or-bits, Source Coding, Quare, London, UK
Evolution ID, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center Athens, Greece.
Money Factory, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
Holidays(?), Gray Gallery, Skopelos, Greece
Art Athina, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center/Cube Art Editions
Music Wise, Bios, Athens, Greece
2009
Personal-Political, 2nd Thessaloniki Biennial, Greece*
Beret from Monmartre, 2nd Athens Biennial Athens, Greece
Beret from Monmartre, Velvet Festival, Bios, Athens, Greece
Art Athina, Cube Art Editions, Athens, Greece
ReMap KM 2, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center,
Greece Summer Show, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Greece
2008
The Beautiful Ones, Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, NJ, USA
Boys, Rencontres Internationales du film Paris/Berlin/Madrid (Centre Pompidou, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Reina Sofia)
The Final Show, Kafeneon, Athens, Greece
2007
PULSE Miami, Vitamin Contemporanea gallery, Miami, USA
ARTissima, Vitamin Contemporanea gallery, Torino, Italy
Balelatina, Vitamin Contemporanea gallery, Basel, Switzerland
Ophelia’s world, Argekunst Museum, Bolzano, Italy
Art Athina, H syghroni elliniki skini, Athens, Greece.
My Room, Rencontres Internationales du film, Paris/Berlin/Madrid
Unfair, Rooms, Athens, Greece
Part Time Punks, DESTE Foundation, Athens
2006
My Room, Rencontres Internationales du film Paris/Berlin/Madrid
ARTissima, Vitamin Contemporanea gallery, Torino
Turning Twelve, Athens, Greece.
My Room, Positive charges, Center of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki*
2005
The Collection, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art,Thessaloniki
Liste, Basel, Unlimited Contemporary gallery, Switzerland*
Art Athina, Lola Nikolaou gallery-Unlimited Contemporary gallery, Thessaloniki*
2004
Re:source, Art in General, New York, U.S.A
Liste, Basel, Unlimited Contemporary gallery, Switzerland*
Art Athina Unlimited Contemporary gallery, Athens, Greece*
Hellas Everyday, White Box gallery, New York, U.S.A*
2003
Variations in Balkan spaces, Thessaloniki, Greece*
2002
ArtFrankfurt, Neue Kunst gallery, Germany
2001
Artforum gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece ATOMA, Port of Thessaloniki, Greece
2000
Art Athina, ZM gallery, Greece*
7+7, Zefxis gallery, Thessaloniki, Greece
1999
Association On Dirait la Mer, Marseille, France
Mediterranean Art Festival, -ECUME- Alexandria, Egypt
Elaine Benson Gallery, New York, U.S.A
*for these exhibitions a catalogue has been produced