POLLYXENIA JOANNOU, Tilt, 2007-8, Graphite onpaper, 100 x 65 cm

Conny Dietzschold Gallery 2 Danks Street, Waterloo NSW 2017 Sydney, NSW Australia (city map) Send E-mail tel +61-2-9690 0215 www.connydietzscholdgallery.com

POLLYXENIA JOANNOU [AUSTRALIA]
to black...sex and death

Opening: Saturday 31 May 2008, 4 - 6 PM

Exhibition Dates: 31 MAY - 9 JULY 2008

This latest series of concrete works by Pollyxenia Joannou are the stunning result of the Tim Storrier National Art School Residency for 2006/07. This residency at the renouned Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, produced first a series of Poloroid snapshots which then became quite serious studies in concrete principals realized in oils and charcoals, on rag paper, watercolour paper, andon board.

The simplicity of materials and minimalist use of colour allow Joannou to explore more base elements in the composition of her works, playing with depth, scale, light, shade, inclusion, and exclusion. The reductive use of drawing only geometric shapes and sharp angles using only charcoal or oils, rag, board or paper is also a conscious step backwards from the medium of photography to the more raw record of drawing. This recession in regards to technology carries over to the notion that recorded memory and realized meaning can be two, often opposing, forces.

Pollyxenia Joannou lives and works in Sydney's Inner West, teaching art students at The Northern Institute (TAFE) and the National Art School, to share her expertise. Her work spans over 25 years, with prestigious group exhibitions, including the Sulman Prize, the Archibald Prize, and the Portia Geach Memorial Award. With numerous solo exhibition, residencies, scholarships and grants in Sydney and abroad, Pollyxenia Joannou has certainly established herself a space on the contemporary art scene.