Vassiliki

VASSILIKI (Vassiliki Benopoulou), born in Athens in 1960, is a visual artist and sculptor internationally renowned for her enormous kinetic installations as well as for her conjectural interventions.The divine of the human nature and the psyche, as defined by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, have played an exceptional role in Vassiliki's idea of human integration within the framework of a philosophical and spiritual code. Profoundly homocentric Vassiliki's art signifies the continuation of a route dedicated to the mystery of existence through symbolism. Nicolas Carone was the professor who inspired and encouraged her mostly while Pierre Restany became her mentor and supporter during a critical period of her artistic career.

 Her installation The City of Games (2000), is considered to be one of the biggest in scale installations, composed by two thousand sculptures, all painted by hand with an astonishing geometrical, almost compulsive, accuracy, a plethora of colors, shapes and endless arabesques flying into the air and outlined by the figures of Dancers, Acrobats, Guards and the Harlequins -the dominant figure of the City, balancing on the monumental carrousel, the swings, the wheels, the spheres, and other machine-made and kinetic devices. Following the inspired “Stavroschimites" (1997), referring to the form of virtue through its embodiment in the human figure, Harlequins emerge as a key symbol of the artist's approach toward life, death and the divine through the creation of her ideal beings. The characteristic multi-colored diamond shape costume of Harlequin, the protagonist of Commedia dell' Arte, is the primary motif of The City of Games. Geometry and geometrical symbols have played the role of her secret algorithm as it has been profoundly proved in the “Temple of colors" which is certainly the biggest three-dimensional painting in the history of contemporary art so far, covering a surface of 2.000 square meters, all painted by hand.The color tones, the combinations as well as the diamond shapes are almost never perceived to be the same. This differentiated optical perception is due to functions and stimuli of the human brain. A game of dizziness and intoxicating «hypnotism» accompanies the acrobatic attitude of the brain this time. Vassiliki perceives all these masks as the undertaking of incompatible standpoints in life, a walking on thin ice, being the achievement of a sensitive balance and paying its price.

Vassiliki has presented her work in numerous individual exhibitions worldwide attracting more than 2.000.000 visitors with her kinetic enormous installations. She has been honored with distinctions and awards. Most of her works are exhibited permanently in public spaces and museums, while others belong to private collections. She lives and works in Greece and Italy.