Dorothée Mesander

Visual Artist | Greece

Dorothée Mesander is a visual artist primarily working with collage. She was born in the Netherlands and graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a postgraduate degree in International Public Law. She also studied English Law at the University of Exeter. She is self-taught in Art. She has been living and working in Greece since 1982. She has worked as a foreign language instructor, translator, and interpreter for the Dutch Embassy. She also collaborated for years in the management of a small hotel unit in Crete. She has been a member of the Greek Chamber of Visual Arts (SKETBE) since 2013. Since 2017, she has held 3 solo exhibitions and participated in over 50 group exhibitions in Greece and abroad. In 2018, she founded the Thessaloniki Collage Club with the aim of introducing a wider audience to collage as an art form through collage workshops, international collaborations, and exhibitions. Her works are found in private collections, permanent gallery collections, museums, and libraries in Greece and abroad. Many of her works have been featured in publications both internationally and in Greece. She collaborates with the ARC – Art Revisited Collective since January 2023.

Statement

In a world where most things are discarded after a brief use, I strive to rescue these “cast-offs” from oblivion by creating proportional collages from old magazines, books, and encyclopedias. By deconstructing, composing, and juxtaposing seemingly unrelated pieces of paper and images, I craft a new image, a fresh narrative that endures over time. Meticulous, intricate cutting, aesthetics, and beauty are what I aim to achieve in my work.

AT A GLANCE

Genre: Collage
Medium: Original papers, vintage papers exclusively from 1950s magazines (Netherlands, France, Greece), and antique printings (genuine original old papers 100+ years old from France and the Netherlands).
Style: Symbolism, Surrealism, Neo-realism
Themes: Anthropocentric
Workshop: Peraia, Thessaloniki, Greece
Associations: None
Price Range: €100-€900

International Scale:
EMERGING | HIGH-POTENTIAL | MID-CAREER | ESTABLISHED

RECENT ARTWORKS

CAREER LANDMARKS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

“A Collage A Day,” Rho Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2022.

“Cut!,” ELEKTRON, Thessaloniki, 2020.

“Paper Travels,” 2 Concept Store, Thessaloniki, 2017.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
(selection)

“10 Years,” celebratory exhibition for the 10 years of Rho Gallery, curated by Eutychia Gousiou, Rho Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2022.

“La mia felicità su misura,” international collage exhibition, curated by Roberta Guarna, Comune di Bari, Bari, Italy, 2022.

“Corporeal Gestures,” Fragmentary Exploration of the Human Body, international collage exhibition, curated by Clive Knights, Portland School of Architecture, Portland, United States, 2022.

“The Era of Thin Cows,” an artistic reference to the poetry of Dinos Christianopoulos, organized by SKETBE, ZIN SIRLA TZAMI, Serres, 2022.

“The Era of Thin Cows,” an artistic reference to the poetry of Dinos Christianopoulos, Julia Vokotopoulou Hall, Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, organized by SKETBE, Thessaloniki, 2021.

“After That,” exhibition of visual artists, curated by Katerina Xypolitou, Poseidon Art Gallery, Myrina, Lemnos, 2020.

“Collage Art,” international collage exhibition, curated by Anna Klos, Retroavangarda Galeria, Warsaw, Poland, 2020.

“Universal Language,” international collage exhibition, curated by Collagistas Festival, Maison du Peuple, Brussels, Belgium, 2019.

“Schwitters Army,” international collage exhibition, curated by Ric Kasini Kadour, Merz Gallery, Sanquhar, Scotland, United Kingdom, 2019.

“Vinylism,” international collage exhibition, curated by Rhed Fawell, Tent Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, 2018.

“Small World, Big Village,” international collage exhibition, curated by Collagistas Festival, Dublin, Ireland, 2018.

“Beautiful Monsters,” international collage exhibition, curated by Collagistas Festival, Stecca 3, Milan, Italy, 2017.

“Due to Crisis, I Give You My Child,” group exhibition of visual artists based on the book by Aigli Brouskou, Rho Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2016.

“The Roars of Love,” based on the poem by Odysseas Elytis, curated by Eutychia Gousiou, Rho Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2015.

DISTINCTIONS

Award and acquisition of the diptych “Abstraction of House and Garden” from the Kanyer Collage Collection, USA, 2020

 

PROJECTS

World Collage Day, participation and action as part of a group exhibition, with in situ creation of thematic collages, in the outdoor space of KOUMPI crafts café, organized by Thessaloniki Collage club, Thessaloniki, annual event since 2018 and onwards.

ARTWORKS

SOCIAL MEDIA