It is with great pleasure and excitement that Alma Gallery Athens is finally presenting All 4 Art, a much anticipated exhibition featuring renowned artists Pat Andrea, Cristina Ruiz Guiñazú, Mateo Andrea andAzul Andrea. Yet another cultural victim of the pandemic, the exhibition has been patiently awaiting its turn since November 2020.

Pat Andrea,
Aroma,
oil and casein paint on canvas,
160 x 130 cm,
2020

Pat Andrea,
Cephalopode,
mixed media on carton,
40 x 40 cm,
2020

It is a rather unusual phenomenon to have an entire family of artists exhibiting together, however,Les Andrea –as they often refer to themselves– have formed a unique artistic collective. Although Pat, Cristina and Mateo are already familiar to the Greek public through their participation in numerous exhibitions in the past, this marks the collective's inaugural exhibition in Greece. It comprises some 40 works, including large and smaller paintings and drawings on canvas and paper, 3D drawings, sculpture, mixed media, collage and in situ installation.

Pat Andrea,
Eva et Lilith,
oil and casein paint on canvas,
46 x 55 cm,
2021

Pat Andrea,
Honte et désespoir,
mixed media on carton,
60 x 40 x 6 cm,
2020

Such variety of techniques is very telling of the artistic curiosity permeating the Andrea family. Despite their diverse approaches, however, the four of them share some common characteristics; outstanding draughtsmanship, instantly identifiable artistic identities, as well as a love for blending reality with the dream, intellect with intuition. Each artists’ works exhibited here reflect their individual philosophies; Pat’s quest to find beauty through his fantastically theatrical conduits to the unconscious, Cristina’s philosophical expedition to attain true artistic freedom and creative power, Mateo’s exploration of the female experience by proposing a new female representation, and Azul’s personal homage to the kingdom of living, with her beautiful and meticulously sculpted world.

Pat Andrea,
How to break a collarbond,
mixed media on carton,
40 x 30 x 8 cm,
2020

Pat Andrea,
La première astronaute pour Mars,
oil and casein paint on canvas,
54 x 65 cm,
2021

Pat Andrea 1942, Netherlands

Pat Andrea is turning a new page on figurative art by going back to the basics. As a classically trained draughtsman, drawing has always been the foundation of his work. As an outsider and a rebel, however, his nature is to upset academic figuration. His rendering of the body omits extraneous elements and focuses on what he considers the “essential parts” –the head, the legs, the female anatomy, echoing the way most of us sketched little human figures as children. Disproportionately large heads are supported by long legs serving as torsos, resulting in figures simultaneously realistic and linear, terrifying and seductive; chaotic against strict, geometrical, box-like spaces.

Pat Andrea,
Les sportives,
mixed media on paper,
100 x 80 cm,
2017 - 2021

Pat Andrea,
Omkijken,
mixed media on carton,
78 x 25 x 15 cm,
2020

A lover of the fantastical and the enigmatic, his deeply human-centred worlds burst with wry humour and sexual energy. Pat’s is a primarily matriarchal world, dominated by colossal, mischievous, mysterious women. When men are present, they serve mostly as supporting characters; because his is a theatrical world, and every piece is yet another image on his storyboard. It is also a very personal world, with his compositions serving as layered, dreamlike, physical manifestations of everything he encounters in his subconscious. Pat loves to merge traditions (references to Magritte and Mondrian, collage and expressionism, Christianity and pop art), and create worlds that fluctuate between figuration and abstraction. Ultimately, his nuanced, theatrical snapshots communicate what is most important to him: the perfection of beauty found in human interactions. And this is challenging to depict because people are, by nature, imperfect.

Pat Andrea,
Soulever une jupe,
mixed media on paper,
60 x 70 cm,
2017

Pat Andrea,
Soulever une jupe 2,
mixed media on paper,
60 x 70 cm,
2019

A tireless artist, the culmination of Pat’s theatrical imagination is realised in his 3D carton sculptures. Interchangeable figures and settings, free of the restrictive two-dimensionality of canvas and paper, act out his thoughts on makeshift stages. This is his power as an artist: to combine creation and destruction and expose the ridiculousness of human comedy.

Pat Andrea,
Une proposition,
mixed media on paper,
40 x 45 cm,
2020

Pat Andrea,
Victime,
mixed media on paper,
40 x 45 cm,
2015

Pat Andrea,
What they want,
oil and casein paint on canvas,
30 x 30 cm,
2021

Cristina Ruiz Guiñazú 1951, Argentina

Bursting with symbolisms, allegories and philosophical references that few will be able to understand instantly, Cristina’s multilayered narratives always reward the diligent observer. The essence of her work lies heavily on her own personal struggle between reason and faith as well as her search for freedom, whether it be artistic or spiritual. Meticulously executed, her clean colours and perfection of tone combined with her magical sense of storytelling, make her painted figures come alive. Within her geometrically divided canvases, the action takes place predominantly in the foreground, closer to the viewer, while the dividing lines separating her images in two could reference the infinite horizon of Patagonia, the backdrop to her early childhood in Argentina.

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
Dieu, l'étendue, la pensée,
acrylics on canvas,
92 x 73 cm,
2019

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
La danse,
acrylics on canvas,
92 x 73 cm,
2017

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
La liberté,
collage and acrylics on canvas,
35 x 24 cm,
2019

Cristina's remarkable ability to blend childhood memories with philosophy, religion and the history of art is what makes her paintings so layered and nuanced. The recurrent references to the philosopher Baruch Spinoza -one of her biggest inspirations- juxtaposed with the young girls and symbols such as arrows, seals and circles as well as her vivid colour palette all together create an almost Freudian-like dreamworld. Cristina has adopted a very personal approach to realism, which allows her to render almost hyper-realistic figures against plain backgrounds, resulting in a mystical aesthetic.

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
La pierre,
acrylics on canvas,
92 x 73 cm,
2019

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
Les causes extérieures,
acrylics on canvas,
92 x 73 cm,
2019

The young children who seem to dominate her canvases are reminders of the purity of soul we should all be striving for. Children are born free of sin, education, culture or any sense of morality. In the words of Nietzsche, they simply want. They want to become creators of new values, to navigate the world in search of creativity and freedom of mind. The child becomes not only a symbol for what we should all strive to achieve in our lives, but also of the innocence Cristina always carries in her heart; the only way to freedom and creative power in abundance.

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
L'oeil de Spinoza,
collage and acrylics on canvas,
27 x 19 cm,
2021

Cristina Ruiz Guinazu,
Nous sommes éternels,
collage and acrylics on canvas,
35 x 27 cm,
2020

Mateo Andrea 1983, Argentina

Argentinian born, Paris-based artist Mateo Andrea is known for his bold and electric paintings that challenge clichés of women. Touching upon a multitude of controversial and very contemporary issues including voyeurism, sexuality, independence, objectification and gendered language in art, he is unafraid to complicate the traditional idea of woman as subject. The irony of doing it while being part of a long tradition of male artists who depict women is not lost on him. On the contrary, he has chosen to try to understand the female experience through pioneering a new frankness regarding female representation.

Mateo Andrea,
BIG BANG,
mixed media on paper,
29.7 x 42 cm,
2019

Mateo Andrea,
COLOR,
mixed media on canvas,
81 x 100 cm,
2018

Emerging from an immersive artistic universe that has significantly shaped his aesthetic –grandson of Kees and son of Pat Andrea– Mateo’s inspired draughtsmanship is a combination of a lifetime of osmosis as well as classical training at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris.

Mateo Andrea,
DÖLL,
mixed media on paper,
29.7 x 42 cm,
2020

Mateo Andrea,
LOLLIPOP,
mixed media on paper,
21 x 29.7 cm,
2020

Similar to his father, the backbone to his art is drawing, upon which he builds nuanced, hybrid works. Against flat surfaces, geometrical shapes and patterns of colour, women are celebrating their femininity. Their eyes might be closed, yet they are aware of their surroundings and have total control over them and over the viewer, annihilating any power dynamics between the observer and the observed. Using cartoon-like embellishments and hints that trigger the viewers’ imagination in any direction –pink skulls, phallic shapes, colourful lollipops– powerfully and humorously, Mateo’s large canvases and smaller drawings poke fun at the over- sexualised representation of women throughout the history of art. He boldly rejects the idea of the ‘demure,’ fragile woman and proposes a new path, reminding us all of certain things we have conveniently chosen to forget. His women can be any woman.

Mateo Andrea,
LUCHA LIBRE,
mixed media on paper,
21 x 29.7 cm,
2020

Mateo Andrea,
Mascaras,
mixed media on canvas,
114 x 146 cm,
2020

Mateo Andrea,
PIRULO,
mixed media on canvas,
50 x 50 cm,
2020

Azul Andrea 1988, Argentina

One of the most interesting and ambitious contemporary artists, Azul Andrea creates works of extraordinary power and complexity that challenge the possibilities of sculpture all the while questioning our ability to see; to see the world around us and our future within it. Steeped in research, her work is a tireless exploration of materials and her starting point is a reality that surprisingly proves both familiar and strange to us. Her highly original visual vocabulary includes nuts, grains, eggshells and yolks as well as found items like survival blankets. Her work can be read as a powerful metaphor for the ephemerality, fragility and transformative and healing powers of nature. The egg yolk gives us shining golden crystals as it decays, while the coloured broken eggshells evoke the beauty of birth, the beginning of something new. Her in situ installation comprises processed survival blankets turned into reflectors of our skewed perception of nature and of ourselves.

Azul Andrea,
Casas de color,
painted egg shells,
17.5 x 13 x 13 cm,
2020

Azul Andrea,
Circulos,
survival blankets,
200 x 200 cm (in situ),
2020

Further infused with added layers of symbolism, the circles become the eternal state and reference both the strength and fragility of existence, the metamorphosed eggs are reminders to contemplate our future, and the sphere –made from grains believed to possess medicinal powers in the Middle Ages– the much-needed remedy for these tumultuous times.

Azul Andrea,
La poderosa (1_6),
seeds,
15 x 15 cm (26 x 30 cm),
2020

Azul Andrea,
Ne t’arrête pas en si bon chemin,
2011-2020

On the wall, her series of blue, minuscule figures lost in a universe of lines -her fingerprints- imprints of her identity on paper or a reimagining of the self-portrait… Her work is founded on a combination of observation and rigorous research, and each one of her creations has an interesting story to tell. Her art invokes the contingency of nature and reminds us that our world is a construct, and in that way it can be questioned and reinvented. Thus, she is challenging the way we look, not only at art, but at the world around us as well, and begs us all to take better care of it.

Azul Andrea,
Somos montes de cristal,
30 x 30 cm (110 x 30 x 30 cm),
2019