“On Cloud Seven” a solo exhibition by Dr. Ioannis Michaloudis k presented by the Embassy of Greece to Australia in cooperation with the Consulate of Greece in Perth to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Sister City Relationship between Perth and Kastellorizo k Catalogue k 6-14 June 2014 Perth Town Hall Foyer The artist is opening the 20 L high-temperature supercritical drying reactor after a 48 h run. The vessel was installed in Greece, September 2005, and all the aerosculptures are created since then in it (photograph and copyright: Massimo Pizzocaro 2/2008). Perth, 26 May 2014 Message from the Lord Mayor of Perth On behalf of the City of Perth it is an honour to host the “On Cloud Seven” exhibition of Dr Ioannis Michaloudis, an outstanding Greek - Australian artist in cooperation with the Embassy of Greece to Australia and the Greek Consulate in Perth. It is particularly poignant during the 30th anniversary year of the sister city relationship between Kastellorizo and Perth. Dr Ioannis Michaloudis's exhibition will resonate with those who view it. I recognise the positive impact his artwork will have on not only in the international stage but especially here in Western Australia. The Sister City relationship with Kastellorizo is one of the longest in Perth. This relationship was built initially on migration but more recently on social and cultural links while fostering international goodwill and tourism between the many generations of descendants of these early migrants. The City's former Lord Mayor Mick Michael himself a Greek of Kastellorizian origin instigated this sister city relationship in 1984. It is estimated that there are thousands of residents with Kastellorizian ancestry living in Western Australia. The City of Perth is proud of its role in assisting to keep its Kastellorizian residents, with ancestry and connections, informed about cultural traditions that are part of their heritage. This sister city partnership has been energised in recent years with the establishment of an annual reciprocal student exchange program with the community organisation; the Australian Friends of Kastellorizo. This program has been a huge success allowing students to immersing themselves in their cultural heritage through language, educational and cultural programs. This “On Cloud Seven” exhibition provides an opportunity to further engage with our local Greek community as well as to showcase the talents of Dr Ioannis Michaloudis to the greater Perth community and coincides with the official visit to Western Australia of Their Excellencies the Ambassador of Greece Mr. Haris Dafaranos and Mrs. Eva T. Dafaranos, who has curated this wonderful exhibition, designed and prepared artistically the brochure at hand. Dr.Lisa Scaffidi Lord Mayor Canberra, 26 May 2014 Message from the Ambassador of Greece to Australia It gives me great pleasure to felicitate you all on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Perth and Kastellorizo, a milestone of particular significance coinciding with our official visit to Western Australia. Eva and I wish wholeheartedly to congratulate Dr. Ioannis Michaloudis for the artistry of the works of the solo exhibition “On Cloud Seven” he so kindly agreed to display honouring the historic occasion. A Greek – Australian cultural expression of the dynamism and the aesthetics of this segment of the Greek presence in Australia. This is a major cultural event which promotes in terms of artistry and excellence the Greek – Australian Community of Western Australia and is an expression of the esteem and appreciation from the part of the Embassy to the Greeks and Australians of Perth. We hope to have the opportunity to organise more cultural events cooperating with you in the near future. Haris D. Dafaranos Ambassador Canberra, 26 May 2014 Message from the Curator of the exhibition For the Ancient Greeks, science is the quest for truth as well as knowledge and art is the human effort to imitate the divine. It was not, consequently, a surprise to me when an eminent Greek – Australian artist, researcher and lecturer agreed to present a variety of his works where art and science collide in the “On Cloud Seven” exhibition presented to you at the Foyer of the Perth Town Hall. A charismatic and most talented mind like that of Dr. Ioannis Michaloudis expands the horizons of our aesthetics through the pioneering artistic use of silica aerogel. Ioannis’ motivation for all his artwork and research derives from his deep sentiments for the preservation of the environment. He feels strongly about the sky, the “last layer of Earth”, as he says emphatically, “which, being the breath of our planet, is in real danger”. Every sculpture of his, each one of his research papers are expressing the need for attention towards our wounded sky. Silica aerogel has in the hands of Ioannis unique aeshetics and visual qualities expressing in the best possible way the blue and orange tints of our sky because of their nanostructure. Silica aerogel is indeed an ethereal and beautifull material, an avant-guarde product of our space era used by NASA to catch stardust. In the hands of Dr. Michaloudis is the artistic means to remind us of the sky element while in space. A futuristic element with so much ancestral and perennial beauty. I was very happy to cooperate with Dr. Michaloudis in curating this exhibition and I strongly felt his advanced artistic charisma and the beauty of his themes, where the hellenic spirit and the humanist angle prevail. It is an honour to have an artist of hellenic origin, of such a caliber, in Western Australia. Eyvah T. Dafaranos Art curator Dr. Ioannis Michaloudis BIO Visual artist Dr. Ioannis Michaloudis was born in 1965, Anavra-Karditsas and raised in Athens, Greece. Graduated in 1989 from the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design (TEI of Athens), he continued his studies in Paris, where he received a Master in Product Design from the Ecole Normale Superieure des Arts Décoratifs. In 1992 he raised his Master's degree in Visual Arts from Sorbonne University. In the same university he completed his Doctorate research in 1998, where Dr. Michaloudis develops his thesis on the “elastic arts” by analyzing the relationship between visual and applied arts, through the presentation of his works of land art and in situ projects. From 2001 to 2003 he carried out a postdoctoral research in Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the (Nephele)3, the Cubed Cloud project. In MIT, Michaloudis met silica aerogel, a nanomaterial used by NASA to collect stardust. For the reason that this ethereal material looks like our threatened sky, Michaloudis transferred it -worldwide first- in Art and Design. Dr. Michaloudis had received fellowships from the Greek government (IKY), the Leventis, Kostopoulos, A.S. Onassis Foundations and the University of Sorbonne. Has been awarded by the Dean of Arts at MIT, the MIT Arts Council and the Dean MIT School of Architecture. In 2001 he was awarded the “Fulbright Price for Greek Artists”. In 2007 he won the “Golden Lighthouse” in the XXIV Biennial of Alexandria, Egypt. Artworks of Michaloudis are in private and public collections such as the A.S Onassis Foundation. He realized projects in Greece and France such as In the Circulation of Red Trees, in City University of Paris. In November 2012 he had participated at “The Art&Science International Exhibition and Symposium” in Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, China. In November 2013 he had presented his interactive installation Talking with the Rusted Cloud in Siggraph Asia 2013. He is married to the cellist Mariliza Papadouri and has two daughters, Teresa and Romylia. Since July 2012 they live in Mount Pleasant, Western Australia, where Dr. Michaloudis has a Teaching & Research position in the School of Design and Art (SoDA), Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University. website: http://www.michalous.com portfolio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michalous/ paper: http://www.olats.org/space/13avril/2005/te_iMichaloudis.html contact: [email protected] address: 2A, David street, Mount Pleasant, 6153 WA ART & SCIENCE EXHIBITIONS SOLO 2010 Sky on sale, Gallery Ionos, Mars 20 – April 20, Karditsa, Greece, EU 2008 ( )topia, Aithousa Technis Athinon, January 26 – February 25, Greece, EU http://www.athensartgallery.gr/artists/michaloudis/topia/press-release.html 2007 Athens’ Soul, Telecommunications’ Museum, Mars 23-26, St. Petersburg, Russia. 2006 1 aer( )sculptures, October 3-21,2006, Museum of Cycladic Art, Greece, EU, http://www.cycladic.gr/frontoffice/portal.asp?cpage=resource&cresrc=99& cnode=77&clang=0 2005 First International Astronautical Academy’s (IAA) International Conference, “Impact of Space on Society”, Mars 16-19, 2005, Academy of Science, Budapest, Hungary, EU 2004 7th ESG Conference on Glass Science & Technology, April 25-28, 2004, Athens Greece, EU 2003 7th Intern.Symposium on Aerogels, November 2-5, Alexandria, VA, USA 2003 (Nob)Odyssey's, theater installation, La Mama theater, New York, N.Y, U.S.A 1995 (L)egaux & l’ego, retrospective, City University of Paris, France, EU 1994 In the Circulation of Red Trees, project in situ, CIUP, France, EU COLLECTIVE (selection) 2013 Design Shanghai 2013, Aesthetics City, Power Station of Art, Shanghai China, 3 Dec. 2013 till 30 Mar. 2014, interactive installation: “Touch Your Cloud”, invited artist 2013 6th ACM Siggraph Asia 2013, Convention and Exhibition Center, Hong Kong, China, 20-22 Nov. interactive installation: “Talking with the Rusted Cloud” (peer reviewed), ACM