Multiple female figures by Smaragda Papoulia open a contemporary dialogue on the identity crisis of the modern world
The Hellenic American Union presents the visual art exhibition "Alter Ego", curated by art historian Thodoris Koutsogiannis.
Life-sized portraits, predominantly of female figures, stand prominently at the center of each composition. Multiple forms set against decorative backdrops, with penetrating gazes—sometimes angry, sometimes contemplative, melancholic, or charged with desire—seem to question human existence and its place in the modern world. Accompanied by the artist’s own poetry, these works reveal her "other" self.
As curator Thodoris Koutsogiannis notes: This profoundly human-centered body of work reflects the artist’s personal quest for the essential meaning of human existence. At the same time, it visually expresses the existential anxiety shared by every conscious individual in today’s rapidly shifting, globalized world—an anxiety to redefine oneself within an ever-changing frame of reference. In this sense, Papoulia’s multilayered portraits become a clear product of our time: an era marked by identity crises, gender discourse, feminism, and inclusion.
