Foti Kllogjeri
Painter | Greece
Foti Kllogjeri is a painter born in Albania in 1973, studied painting and applied arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, and has been living and working in Thessaloniki since 1996.
He has showcased his work in nine solo exhibitions in Greece and has participated in more than 70 exhibitions worldwide.
His works are part of private collections. Foti Kllogjeri represents Greece as a painter (Country Leader) in the International Watercolor Society (IWS), serves as the Head of the Albanian Visual Arts Delegation participating annually in the Fabriano Symposium since 2017, and was Vice President of SKETVE (Association of Visual Artists of Northern Greece) from 2019 to 2022. Additionally, he has been collaborating with the ARC – Art Revisited Collective since May 2018.
Statement
Today, loneliness and alienation, the psychology of individuals in modern metropolises, and the dialogue between urban and natural landscapes call for a new mode of representation and naturally raise new topics of interest. In my works, I am preoccupied with capturing movement as a force of life, the relationship between humans and their environment, and the imprint they ultimately leave upon it.
AT A GLANCE
Genre: Painting
Medium: Oil on canvas, watercolor on paper
Style: Expressionism with elements of abstraction and neo-impressionism, intense use of color
Themes: Landscape
Workshop: Thessaloniki, Greece
Associations: IWS / EETE / SKETBE
Price Range: €400-€3000
International Scale:
EMERGING | HIGH-POTENTIAL | MID-CAREER | ESTABLISHED
RECENT WORKS
CAREER LANDMARKS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
The Distance Between Us, curated by Paris Kapralos, Technohoros, Athens 2022
Urban Entropy, Technohoros, curated by Ilektra Douma, documentation text by Paris Kapralos, Athens 2020
Seascape & Urban Landscape, curated by Myrό Gallery at Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 2019
Modiano, OTE Art Windows, curated by Giannis Argyriadis, Thessaloniki 2019
Color as Thought, Escape, Nostalgia, Govedarou Art Gallery, Thessaloniki 2018
The Other City, curated by Paris Kapralos, Myrό Gallery, Main Hall, Thessaloniki 2016
The Metro in Thessaloniki, curated by Paris Kapralos, Myrό Gallery, Project Room, Thessaloniki 2015
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PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS / PUBLIC WORKS
Series The Old Thessaloniki, Capsis Bristol Boutique Hotel, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2018
Series The Metro in Thessaloniki, Capsis Hotel Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2017
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AWARDS
1st Prize, Plein Air festival & exhibition, IWS India, India 2023
1st Prize – category foreign artist, 4th international competition & exhibition, IWS Indonesia, Indonesia 2022
2nd Prize, International Festival of the Watercolor Miniature, MiniWatercolor, Kyiv, Ukraine 2021
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PRESENTATION OF WORK
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, September 2023 – , under the responsibility of Myrό Gallery, 2023-2024
Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, February 2022, under the responsibility of Myrό Gallery, 2022
EDITO | Watercolor, this unknown…, Editorial of the arts magazine Arts & Antiques CCR, May 2023
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
(selection)
Oculi Inquisitivi: Investigative Looks at the Shadows of the City, concept – curation by Paris Kapralos, Luminous Eye Gallery, Athens 2024
Color in Water 9 | Epoché, concept – curation by Paris Kapralos, Luminous Eye Gallery, Athens 2024
New Symbols 3, curated by Paris Kapralos & Jason Kairofilas, organized by ARC -Art Revisited Collective, Luminous Eye Gallery, Athens 2024
Transitions & Passages, annual exhibition of members & friends of ARC – Art Revisited Collective, Luminous Eye Gallery, Athens 2024
Diagenesis, concept & curation by Vera Katranidou, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2024
1922-2022 Exodus – Exit, Annual Exhibition EETE, Former Public Tobacco Factory, Athens 2023
Steps & Paths, annual exhibition of the collective of visual artists ARC -Art Revisited Collective, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2023
Color in Water 8: Autumn Transformations, concept & curation by Paris Kapralos, Luminous Eye Gallery, Athens 2023
Artistic Anthropology, concept & curation by Paris Kapralos, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2023
The Visible and the Invisible, concept and curation by Paris Kapralos, organized by ARTgrID, Luminous Eye, Athens 2023
Terrain Vague, concept and curation by Paris Kapralos, organized by ARTgrID, Luminous Eye, Athens 2023
Man in Cities, concept and curation by Paris Kapralos, organized by ARTgrID, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2023
New Normalcy 2, concept and curation by Paris Kapralos, organized by ARTgrID, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2022
Color in Water 5 – Secret City, concept and curation by Paris Kapralos, Myrό Gallery, Thessaloniki 2022
All That Unites Us, concept & curation by Paris Kapralos, co-organization by Foti Kllogjeri/IWS Greece & Besnik Xhemaili/IWS Kosovo, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2022
Crossroads, concept and curation by Paris Kapralos, documentation by Maria Genitsariou, Myrό Gallery, Thessaloniki 2022
10 Years International Watercolor Society, organized by Paris Kapralos & Foti Kllogjeri, curated by Kostas Parcharidis/Chalkos Gallery, Chalkos Blé Vin, Thessaloniki 2022
5th Art Thessaloniki International Art Fair, Participation with Chili Art Gallery, Curated by Paris Kapralos, HELEXPO, Thessaloniki, 2021
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Before the Halcyon Days End, conceived and curated by Paris Kapralos, organized by ARTgrID, Chili Art Gallery, Athens 2021
Within Oneself, ARC – Art Revisited Collective website / Digital Exhibitions Department, conceived & curated by Paris Kapralos, Digital Exhibition 2021
Urban Landscape. The space where contemporary man moves and acts, Aristotle Museum of Natural History of Thessaloniki, organized by MOMUS & Chamber of Fine Arts of Greece, Thessaloniki 2020
Color in Water IV – The Idle Ship, The Attic Gallery, curated by Paris Kapralos & Sasha Chaitow, Corfu, 2020
New Symbols, an exhibition of the initiative exploring symbolism in contemporary art, organized by ARC – Art Revisited, Chili Art Gallery, curated by Paris Kapralos & Iason Kairofilas, Athens, 2020
Color in Water III – Sea & City, Chili Art Gallery, curated by Paris Kapralos, Athens, 2020
Art in Babel, curated by Kalianthe Vogdopoulou, organized by ARC – Art Revisited Collective, Chalkos Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2019
Kaleidoscope, curated by Paris Kapralos & Sasha Chaitow, The Attic Gallery, Corfu, 2019
Places Without Feelings, an exhibition based on the poem of the same name by George Alisanoglou, curated by Paris Kapralos, Chili Art Gallery, Athens, March 2019
Man, Symbol, and Myth, an exhibition of ARC members and friends, curated by Paris Kapralos, My Art Box, Athens, February 2019
Contemporary Albanian Visual Artists, National Museum of Albania, Tirana, Albania, 2017
SKEVBE (Association of Visual Artists of Northern Greece), Thessaloniki, 2016
Contemporary Albanian Visual Artists, National Museum of Albania, Tirana, Albania, 2016
Artescape, a panorama of contemporary Albanian visual artists, organized & curated by Fotis Kllogjeri, part of the 1st Arts & Crafts Festival – Capsis, Thessaloniki, December 2018
U-Topos / Of All Things, Man Is the Measure, an art project exhibition of the ARC collective, conceived & curated by Paris Kapralos, 3rd Art Thessaloniki International Fair, Thessaloniki, Greece, November 2018
Albes Fusha, Edmond Gjikopulli, Fotis Kllogjeri – 3 solos, Myrό Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2017
Meet the Artist 5 – Springtime, curated by Paris Kapralos, Myrό Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2015
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
International Watercolor Symposium “Architect Plamen Miryanov”, organized by IWS Bulgaria, Belogradchik, Bulgaria, 2024
7th Art Thessaloniki Fair, TIF-HELEXPO, Thessaloniki, Greece 2024
Art Athina 2023, Booth R23 – Technohoros Art Gallery, Zappeion Hall, Athens, Greece 2023
Silk Road International Festival China, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Architecture University of X’ian, China 2023
London Art Biennale 2023, London, UK 2023
IWS India Plein Air Festival, New Delhi, India 2023
IWS Varna International Watercolor Triennale, Bulgaria 2022
4th IWS Indonesia International Competition and Exhibition, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, 2022
7th Lushan International Watercolor Festival, China 2022
IWS Varna International Watercolor Triennale, Bulgaria 2019
Fabriano In Acquarello, Fabriano, Italy 2019
Taipei International Symposium “Rome Holiday in Watercolor”, Taiwan 2019
H International Watercolor Society in Greece, First presentation of the Greek branch of the International Watercolor Society, 3rd Art Thessaloniki International Fair, 2018
Fabriano In Acquarello, Fabriano, Italy 2018
IWS 1st International Watercolor Biennale of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 2018
International Watercolor Festival 2018, Ranchi, India 2018
Fabriano In Acquarello, Fabriano, Italy 2017
Mediteraneo International Watercolor, Rome, Italy 2017
Watercolor Biennale of Indonesia, 2017
2017: Watercolor Biennale, Slovakia, 2017
Watercolor International 2, Thessaloniki, Greece 2017
National Museum of Albania, Tirana, Albania, 2017
National Museum of Albania, Tirana, Albania, 2016
ARTWORKS
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- Foti Kllogjeri
Tower
- €800.00
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- Foti Kllogjeri
In Motion
- €600.00
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- Foti Kllogjeri
Shipyard
- €700.00
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- Foti Kllogjeri
Cyclades
- €750.00
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- Foti Kllogjeri
Sailboat
- €800.00
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- Foti Kllogjeri
Dawn
- €400.00
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CRTICAL APPROACH
Descendant of a rich tradition of Greek urban landscape, Foti Kllogjeri stands out for capturing movement, exploding colors, compositional skill, and an abstract approach to panoramic views of streets and buildings, urban noise and hustle, and the non-direct depiction of people, but rather their kinetic imprints and the sense of the city’s clamor. The painter responds in his own way, offering a contemporary and remarkable perspective. Movement is portrayed on the canvas, often devoid of emotion or with a concealed lyricism that reveals the contradictions and conflicting emotions of attraction and repulsion experienced by individuals in modern metropolises. It’s the city itself that interests the artist, as he “writes” in the human consciousness, inscribed in the collective unconscious.
The element that makes the artist’s approach unique is a delicate balance between gestural painting and the relationship with color that of a colorist, which he is. A neo-impressionistic sentiment emerges from his works, as the focal point of his attention is not anchored in what the eye sees but in the general impression the mind grasps at first glance. His works contain noise, and the overall result is a juxtaposition of opposing, contradictory, and chaotic movements, much like what truly occurs in our cities, in the multitude of people passing through, living, or simply moving, generating meetings and blends of the private and public realm at every moment.
On a technical level, even though in oil painting he has largely swapped brushes for a palette knife, Kllogjeri doesn’t rely on excessive use of impasto, but rather on the portrayal of multiple individual elements in an abstract manner. Literally, the viewer assumes a detail that isn’t there or is formulated entirely abstractly, as due to the adept depiction of movement, the mind adds elements to the perception of the frame that aren’t present.
In watercolors, notable in the context of modern Greek art, is the artist’s exploration of various papers and techniques, as well as the use of water-soluble pigments and their mixing through less common methods in the Greek art scene. Morphologically, his watercolor works appear more abstract, while the urban-natural landscape dichotomy is exploited in certain paintings, likely to highlight the expansion of the urban landscape or its integration into nature.
– Paris Kapralos,
Art Curator