Zouni Eleni (1954)

Born in Piraeus in 1954, she studied graphic design at the Vakalo School (1973-1976), and painting and mosaic at the ASFA under D. Mytaras, D. Kokkinidis and G. Kolefas (1978-1983). From 1984 to 1986 she lived and worked in Barcelona, and from 1989 to 1994 in Utrecht and Amsterdam. In 2009-2010 she did a postgraduate course in “Visual Communication” at the University of Derby-Vakalo Art and Design College. Since 1995 she teaches at Art Workshops and Graphic Design Schools.
Her early works reflect an exploratory path as she seeks among other things the importance of the primitive element in art, with an expressionist script and stark morphological and chromatic contrasts as her main elements. Upon settling in the Netherlands she adopts a milder style dominated by circular shapes, lines and blots. In the late ΄90s she experiments with graded colours and their poetic powers ("Black, Ochre, Red, Yellow, Orange, Azure, White, Brown, Pink, Grey, Blue"; Medusa Art Gallery, 1998).
In the 2000s her subjects become more specific. Shed exhibits portraits of small children from countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America (Diana Gallery Down Town, 2001) or distorted portraits of celebrities through digitally manipulated photographs (Medusa, 2004). In 2012 she exhibits two series (The Thinker and The Touch; Medusa) inspired by the sculpture of Rodin and other works from the past. She went on to delve into the relationship between writing and painting through collages and paintings on rice paper or paper (Grammatomorfes; Epigraphical Museum, 2013). Her quests around the visual aspect of writing continued in her latest show (A manner of speaking; Medusa, 2016).
She has presented over ten solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad, and participated in dozens of group shows. In 2010 she published a book on the subject of where painting begins and where writing begins.