Venetsanou Ersi (1951)

Born in Piraeus in 1951, she studied sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence (1976-1980) under C. Severa and N. Caponi.
Her first solo exhibition was presented in Athens in 1983 (Gallery 3). Her sculptures combine different materials in the same work. Initially she uses marble, which reflects the primordial forms of nature, and Plexiglas that represents industrial development. Plexiglas cuts into the marble to create a dialectic coexistence of a symbolic content. In the 1990s the transparent and ‘fragile’ Plexiglas gives way to yet another sturdy material, metal, as she opts for gear wheels (Gallery 3, 1999). The white marble is often replaced by black, for extra tension and a more pronounced contrast between the materials. The artist’s long research into marble and metal culminates in Matter & matter, Series ΙV (Galleries 3, 2005), which comprises large three-dimensional compositions of white marble and iron, with marble blocks placed vertically on iron discs; bulky, abstract forms in a stage of constant processing, that change depending on the viewer’s standpoint.
In addition to her personal work, since 1980 she collaborates with Costas Vrouvas and Nakis Tastsioglou, the team exhibiting a series of environments and installations in group shows.
She has presented her work in several solo exhibitions in Greece and has participated in numerous group shows. Her works can be found in public and private collections in Greece and abroad.